Amaryllidaceae Juame-Saint-Hillaire (1805)

Linnaeus (1753), in his sexual system, placed the natural order Amaryllideae in the class Hexandra order Monogynia. Of the fifty-one genera classified by Linnaeus, nine genera are currently recognized as part of the Amaryllidaceae. Adanson (1763), using a phenetic approach, described amaryllids as a natural group within Liliaceae Adans. subfamily Narcissoideae Adans. Eleven out of the twelve genera classified are recognized as part of the current Amaryllidaceae. The name Amaryllidaceae was ultimately given to the family by Juame-St.-Hillaire based on the genus Amaryllis L.

William Herbert’s brilliant taxonomic insight was a major contribution to the Amaryllidaceae. Herbert’s inspirational body of work, Amaryllidaceae (1837) was, to date, the most extensive treatment of the group known as "amaryllids". Included in this body of work was an outline for the monocotyledons with a meticulous classification scheme for the Amaryllidaceae. The Herbertian classification scheme became the basis for future taxonomic treatments of the Amaryllidaceae [click for contemporary systematics of the Amaryllidaceae (Meerow et al., 1999).].

The family offers a plethora of marvelous bulbous plants, many of which make excellent containerized plants and/or landscape plants. Many species are even available to the cut flower industry. The bulbs commonly referred to and cultivated as "amaryllis" belong to the genus Hippeastrum.

 The family is represented in Florida by the genera Crinum, Hymenocallis, and Zephyranthes

Zephyranthes atamasco (in habitat, Pinellas County, FL)

  Hymenocallis godfreyi

Crinum americanum