Knysna lily, noun phrase

Forms:
Also Nysna lily.
Origin:
KhoikhoiShow more Named for Knysna (Khoikhoi name), a town on the Western Cape coast.
Either of two plants of the Amaryllidaceae.
a. The justifina Cyrtanthus obliquus, a bulbous flowering plant with strap-shaped leaves and umbels bearing pendulous flowers, yellowish at the base, merging into bright red, and tipped with green; sore-eye flower sense d.
1824 W.J. Burchell Trav. II. 637Nysna lily (Cyrtanthus obliquus).
1982 W.G. Sheat A-Z of Gardening 91The sore-eye flower, or Knysna lily, is indigenous to the Cape...Its 70 mm-long flowers, borne in summer, are yellow and green with red tips.
1985 K. Pienaar Grow S. Afr. Plants 41C. obliquus (Knysna lily), a beautiful plant with drooping red flowers tipped with green.
b. The widely cultivated bulbous flowering plant Cyrtanthus purpureus, with strap-shaped leaves, and umbels bearing funnel-shaped flowers with a yellow throat; berglelie, see berg sense 1 b ii; George lily. See also fire lily.
Note:
Formerly Vallota purpurea or V. speciosa; known as ‘Scarborough lily’ in Britain.
1917 [see berglelie berg sense 1 b ii].
1932 M.W. Henning Animal Diseases 639 (Swart)This plant..known popularly as berglelie, George lily or Knysna lily..has an ovoid bulb with brown membranous tunics.
1967 Courtenay-Latimer & Smith Flowering PlantsKnysna Lily, George Lily, This beautiful flower is in serious need of preservation. The..plants..formerly grew in profusion in the forest.
1972 M.R. Levyns in Std Encycl. of Sn Afr. VI. 640The evergreen Knysna or George lily..has strap-shaped leaves and brilliant red flowers, and grows in the divisions of Mossel Bay, George, Knysna and Uniondale.
1989 Babiana in E. Prov. Herald 18 Mar. 8The..Knysna Lily..bears several flowers on a stalk whereas the Kei Lily rarely has more than one.
1991 Best of S. Afr. Short Stories (Reader’s Digest Assoc.) 174The indigenous Knysna or George lily (Vallota speciosa) likes to grow on mountain slopes. In England, the plant is known as ‘Scarborough lily’ — it is thought because it was grown in Scarborough after bulbs were washed ashore after a shipwreck.
The justifina Cyrtanthus obliquus, a bulbous flowering plant with strap-shaped leaves and umbels bearing pendulous flowers, yellowish at the base, merging into bright red, and tipped with green; sore-eye flower sense d.
The widely cultivated bulbous flowering plant Cyrtanthus purpureus, with strap-shaped leaves, and umbels bearing funnel-shaped flowers with a yellow throat; berglelie, see berg sense 1 b ii; George lily.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

18241991