Birth flower for March 16
Amaryllis
Meaning: pride, splendid beauty
One thick stalk shoots up and opens a ring of huge trumpet flowers, like a fanfare frozen mid-blast. The name comes from Amaryllis, a shepherdess in the Roman poet Virgil's verses. The twist: the bulbs sold as amaryllis are really Hippeastrum, 'knight's star', from South America. The one true Amaryllis is a single South African species, the belladonna lily.