Discovery of the Papilio Amaryllis

Discovery

• Argentine plant collector Dr. Carlos A. Gómez Rupple discovered the Amaryllis papilio in a garden in Santa Catarina State of southern Brazil in 1967. Scientists believed the new species was extinct within its natural Brazilian rain forest habitat. In the 1990s, however, Fred Meyer, a California plant breeder, found the plant growing in tall trees in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Name

• The plant was first described and named Amaryllis papilio by Argentine botanist Pedro Felix Ravenna in 1970. Later, botanist Johan van Scheepen reassigned the plant to the Hippeastrum family, determining that, while the plant was similar to the Amaryllis family of Africa, it was a distinctly South American species. Both Amaryllis and Hippeastrum belong to the family Amaryllidaceae.

Endangerment

• Since its discovery, the butterfly amaryllis' popularity and easy propagation has led to its widespread cultivation in Europe and the United States. Within its native environment, however, the plant is endangered due to deforestation and urbanization.