Omphalissa Explained

Omphalissa is an unaccepted subgenus^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} of genus Hippeastrum, within the family Amaryllidaceae. Originally described by Richard Anthony Salisbury in 1866.^[5]

Description

Robust habit, two to four large flowers. Perianth with a short tube(< 4 cm), paraperigonium curved closing the throat by a distinct neck. Stigma trifid or capitate, lobes > 2 mm. Spathe slit to the base. Ribbon-like leaves, 2.5 to 5 cm broad. Many dry, flat seeds.^{[1] [6] [7]}

Taxonomy

Salisbury originally described the Omphalissa as a subgroup of the Zephyrantheae, then a tribe within the Amaryllidaceae, in which he included Amaryllis (now Hippeastrum) aulica and A. calyptrata. This was subsequently more formally defined by John Gilbert Baker in 1888, as a subgenus of Hippeastrum with six species.^[6] Baker's six species were;

• Hippeastrum aulicum
• Hippeastrum organense (now Hippeastrum correiense)
• Hippeastrum psittacinum
• Hippeastrum calyptratum
• Hippeastrum cybister
• Hippeastrum pardinum

Ecology

Contains the epiphytic species of Hippeastrum.^[8]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Hippeastrum . Amaryllidaceae.org . 2013-11-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170826174144/http://www.amaryllidaceae.org/Hippeastrum/index.htm . 2017-08-26 . dead .
2. Book: Traub, H.P. . 1958 . The Amaryllis Manual . New York . Macmillan . 2013-11-30 .
3. Traub . H.P. . 1980 . The Subgenera of the Genus Amaryllis . Plant Life . 36 . 43–45 .
4. Vargas . C.J.C. . 1984 . The Peruvian Species of the Genus Amaryllis (Amaryllidaceae). . Herbertia . 40 . 112–134 .
5. [John Edward Gray|J. E. Gray.]
6. Book: Baker, John Gilbert. John Gilbert Baker. Handbook of the Amaryllideæ including the Alstrœmerieæ and Agaveæ. 1888. Bell. London. 41. 31 March 2014. Hippeastrum. 1888 .
7. https://books.google.com/books?id=T-ZCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA81&lpg=PA81 Baker, J.G. An enumeration and classification of the species of Hippeastrum, in Henry Trimen (ed.). Journal of Botany: British and Foreign, Volume 16. West, Newman & Company, London 1878, p. 81
8. Web site: Amaryllidaceae épiphytes . Amaryllidaceae.org . 2 April 2014 . 19 December 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151219205843/http://www.amaryllidaceae.org/eco/epiphyt.htm . dead .