Callipsyche
(from kallos, beauty, and psyche, a butterfly; alluding to the handsome flowers). ORD. Amaryllideae. Ornamental greenhouse bulbs; requiring shade, and a compost of rich sandy loam and leaf mould, with good drainage. Propagated by seeds and offsets. They should have plenty of water when growing, and, during the winter, be kept moderately dry, but not dried off, so as to cause them to shrivel. As the leaves wither, water should be gradually withheld.
C. aurantiaca (orange).* fl. deep golden-yellow, several in an umbel, spreading, much flattened sideways; stamens green, twice the length of the perianth; scape erect, nearly 2ft. high. l. few, oblong-acute, bright green, conspicuously veined, stalked, 6in. long. Andes of Ecuador, 1868. (Ref. B. 167.) C. eucrosiodes (Eucrosia-like).* fl. scarlet and green; stamens very long, incurved; scape about ten-flowered, glaucous. March. l. few, green, tessellated, pitted, 4in. wide. h. 2ft. Mexico, 1843. (B. R. 1845, 45.) C. mirabilis (wonderful).* fl. greenish-yellow, small, with stamens three times as long as the perianth, and spreading out on all sides; disposed in an umbellate head of about thirty blossoms; scape 3ft. high. l. about two, oblong-spathulate, green, 1ft. long. Peru, 1868. An extremely curious plant. (Ref. B. 168.)