In spite of its name, Aztec lily is not a lily and belongs to the amaryllis  family, Amaryllidaceae, that also includes snowdrops, narcissus, and crinum lily.  It is native to Mexico and Guatemala where it grows on rocky hillsides, but is grown in zones 8-11 as a garden plant and elsewhere as a potted plant . In spring the plants grow from a bulb and consist of a rosette of strap shaped leaves up to twenty inches long and a single leafless flowering scape up to twelve inches tall.  The flower is about five inches across and bright red.

Meaning in the Language of Flowers: Splendid beauty

 

Quotes:

Beauty, too rich for use, for earth too dear.   Shaks.

 

Her glossy hair was clustered o’er her brow,

Bright with intelligence, and fair and smooth:

Her eyebrow’s shape was like the aerial brow,

Her cheek all purple with the mean of youth,

Mounting at times to a transparent glow,

As if her veins ran lightening.   Byron

 

Fair lovely lady, bright and crystalline!

As glorious as the morning wash’d with dew,

Within whose eyes she takes her dawning beams___

And golden summer sleeps uponn they cheeks;

Wrap up thy radiations in some cloud,

Lest that they beauty make this stately town

Unhabitable as the burning zone,

With sweet reflections of they lovely face.  Shaks

 

For more information go to:

<a href=”https://www.karensgardentips.com/garden-history/the-language-of-flowers-introduction-needs-photo-of-frontpiece/”><strong>The Language of Flowers: Introduction</strong></a>

 

Photo Credit: JJ Harrison (jjharrison89@facebook.com)

By Karen