PlantFiles: Football Lily, African Blood Lily, Powderpuff Lily
Scadoxus multiflorus

This is a beautiful plant that my youngest daughter gave me about 2 years ago, it bloomed the first spring, which was 2009, and now this year there are 6 plants in the pot, two have bloomed and I am waiting to see how the others do. I do nothing except water this plant. I know nothing about this plant except what I have been reading on Dave's Garden. any and all tips on the care of this plant
would be really nice.

I have around 100 blood lily seeds and they have started germinating,
I would like to know what is growing out of the seed, a root or a stem or what?

if it is the root I need to turn the seed over so the root will be down in the growing media.

Help would very much appreciated.

Kurt

It is a potted plant up here, overwintered dry in basement. Stunning visual impact.

they look great, and do well in the mild bay area climate in pots

Fears of this plant are way out of proportion to its toxicity. Unless you plan to make a meal of this plant, and even then you would have to eat a lot of it, this plant is not going to harm you. Even children don't chow down on the landscaping, so.. I would be aware of of the plants potential but I wouldn't fret about it. Some people may develop dermatitis from contact with the plants fluids. So I wouldn't go taking a weed-eater to it. Contact dermatitis is a much more likely problem than poisoning.

They are one of the most spectacular flowers I have ever grown. Back in the Philippines I had lots of them. Their buds sprout out from the ground like mushrooms in summer after sufficient amount of rain and leaves appear later. The look like fireballs in reddish pink color and they are always a head turner. Too bad, when I went back for a vacation after some years, they were all gone. I'm sure they did not just die bec. we had them for 3 generations. Now I'm looking for bulbs to plant. WIll someone help me. I'm from The Woodlands, Texas (just north of Houston). Thanks.

I just ripped this bulb out of my garden. While it is beautiful, I would not knowingly plant such a toxic choice in my immediate courtyard. I made the mistake of purchasing bulbs from Home Depot without first researching them.

My husband and I live on the island of Maui, Hawaii (zone 11), and this plant mysteriously appeared in our yard about 10 years ago. I had no idea what it was until I happened upon it in a book about bulbs. What started with one bulb is now about 25 plants and counting! I have been digging them up regularly to propagate the bulblets, and the plants don't seem to mind. They bloom year round and take much abuse. The slugs around here eat everything but our Scadoxus. They also don't seem to mind the very dry, hot, windy conditions in our area. Some are growing where there is no regular water. We let the seeds fall where they may, and we never know where they are going to pop up next. They are a permanent addition to our garden, and we will continue to grow these beauties for the rest of our lives.

I've had this bulb for two years now, and it's finally been in one place long enough to bloom. I was very surprised to find it today, since I hadn't been paying attention to it, and we've had really dry weather. It's the last week of June, and from all indications, it shouldn't be blooming right now, but I guess that four days of rain we had recharged it. I have a huge head of reddish-orange flowers, and the nice, large green leaves are pushing their way up. I love the floliage on this one.

I planted a bulb two months ago, just before Christmas, and now it´s blooming in all its beauty. It´s easy to cultivate (so far), but strangely, it´s not really popular over here. I say it should be.

I have several of these in my garden but must remember where they have been planted otherwise you can dammage them as they remain underneath the surface (the bulbs) after flowering ( as it dries quickly after )It can flower twice or annual it depends , when it is watered it flowers directly from the soil with little or no leaves. Here in Mauritius it flowers mainly in summer September to january and even before winter april may. And at this very moments it's in flower.

Beautiful plant .Bought in county Dublin ireland as a plant in bloom in 2003.has bloomed every year since.
after die back ,stalk is cut and plant placed in dark room.
In spring plant is brought out on window sill and given a little water.
Plant is always kept at room temperature(12 degrees celcius)

Spectacular blooms well worth waiting for. Unfortunately it only blooms for a few weeks in late May and early June.

I planted this bulb in the spring one year... I got lovely lovely flowers later that first year.. and then in the spring in later years... I have to be careful as I'm sometimes weeding out the flower before it can bloom in my spring weeding furry.. left alone it has grand large blooms... I grow it in a raised planter.. outside in weather and fullsun year round... I don't do anything to it.. for any season.. and find it's just the best... although I wish it flowered for a longer time...
This year I l eft the structure of the flower intact and got red berries which look like they contain seeds.. these I'll leave and try and ripen I guess and then sow some.. I'll post later as to what I find inside the berries and how they do... Gordon, Brooklyn,NY

The African Blood Lily, is a unique bulb that only flowers in the spring. Where as to the leaves stay untill winter and go dormat until about Feb. or March. Then you will notice new growth when the new growth reaches a certain level of maturity the plant will produce a bloom that looks like a batroom scrungie small red tublar flowers forming a ball this flower will last about a week. It is truly unlike any bulb II have ever seen. It is Toxic and Posion to Humans and Pets So Please DO NOT LET CHILDREN TOUCH OR PICK THE FLOWER IF THEY DO WASH HANDS IF DIGESTED CALL YOUR LOCAL POSION CONTROL CENTER. YOU CAN FIND THIS NUMBER IN THE PHONE BOOK AND CALL 911 ALSO YOU MAY WANT TO KEEP YOPUR PETS VETS PHONE NUMBER HANDY AND CALL THEM IMMEDIATLEY

The flowers are truly spectacular. But I want to share additional info I found on the web I presume to be accurate, the search was done using the plant synonym "Gifwortel":

"These plants are poisonous. The genus Scadoxus contains alkaloid- rich, strongly toxic plants. Two species Scadoxus multiflorus and Scadoxus cinnabarinus are known to be used in Cameroon, Gabon, Angola and the Central African Republic in conjunction with a number of other plants, as an arrow poison. In Guinea and northern Nigeria the bulbs are used to make a fishing poison. The bulb is also used to treat dropsy, scabies and poorly healing wounds. In South Africa, Scadoxus puniceus appears to be more commonly used where it is used to treat coughs and gastro-intestinal problems and forms part of a medicine taken during pregnancy to ensure a safe delivery. Please be warned that these alkaloids are highly toxic and their indiscriminate use is potentially lethal. They are known to be lethal to stock, mainly goats and sheep grazing on them when other plants are scarce, and the leaves appear to have exactly the same toxic effects as the bulb.

There are nine species of Scadoxus, only three of which occur in South Africa. Other South African species in the genus include: Scadoxus membranaceus (= Haemanthus puniceus var. membranaceus), Scadoxus multiflorus subsp. multiflorus (= Haemanthus multiflorus, Haemanthus sacculus.) and Scadoxus puniceus (= Haemanthus magnificus, Haemanthus natalensis)"

Author: Alice Notten
Kirstenbosch
February 2001

This has been a very successful bulb for me. The flowers and foliage are both quite dramatic. Slugs do like to munch on it, though, so be ready for a fight.

I started with three bulbs and after 30 years I have over 150. There is the normal multiplacation and some self seeding. But I try to collect the seeds to give away. And I usually have a few in pots to give away. Because of the dry conditions they flowered in the last week of May instead of the second week. I'm looking for more species in this group.

It blooms once a year and that happens only by last week of April and by end of May it is gone. (Summertime here). The fruit is a little fleshy ball of red, and not many go into fruition. The flower lasts for about a week. The fresh leaves appear after the flowering. The leaves die off in winter and the bulbs are dormant and it should not be watered during this time.