Amaryllis Meaning

The amaryllis is a flower that means pride and it also means pastoral poetry.

And because its flower blossoms for a long time, it symbolizes achieving success over a long and difficult struggle.  A well-cared amaryllis bulb can ensure that prosperity stays in the home for a very long time. Also, it’s a flower of determination, radiant beauty as well as pride.

Mythology has it that Amaryllis was a shepherd woman who loved another shepherd named Alteo.  This man only loved flowers.  He said that he would love the woman who brought him a blossoming plant and that’s when Amaryllis dressed up in white and stood at Alteo’s door every night for 30 nights.  During these visits, she pierced her heart using a gold arrow.  When Alteo opened the door on the 30th night, he found a red flower that came from the blood of Amaryllis’ heart.

Superstitions Of Amaryllis

The amaryllis is mostly related to the Christmas season.  When you’re decorating your home with plants, the amaryllis is a good choice.  Known also as the Christmas lily, it adds joy to the home during Christmastime.  Without it, it would seem like something is missing from the holiday season.

Spiritual Meaning Of Amaryllis

• Name:  Amaryllis
• Color:  The amaryllis is most commonly found with a bold crimson hue. However, it is also available in colors like white, yellow and pink.  There are even variegated types where all the colors of the amaryllis are found in one blossom.
• Shape:  Many will say that the amaryllis is a bell-shaped flower.  For others, however, it’s a flower that takes on the shape of a star.  It’s also known to be a lily-shaped blossom or even a trumpet-shaped flower.
• Fact:  This flower comes basically from a bulb.  It’s made up of a popular species the Amarylllis belladonna.  However, there are hybrids of this flower too, known as the Hipppeastrum.  With one well-cared bulb, you can have beautiful flowers from it for as long as 75 years.
• Poisonous:  Yes, but actually not the flower but more on the other parts of the plant.  It’s mainly the bulb that has a poisonous property of lycorine.  When the bulb is ingested by humans or by animals like dogs, it can cause vomiting, nausea, or diarrhea.
• Number of Petals:  Three.
• Victorian Interpretation:  Since the Victorian Age was the age of flower discovery and exploration, it also follows that the amaryllis has a specific Victorian interpretation.  For the most part, it’s symbolic of success after a struggle.  It’s also a flower that represents a job well done and thus it’s given to people as a token of recognition.  When this flower is given to an artist, it’s a way of encouraging creativity.
• Blossom Time:  When you have an amaryllis in your home, you’ll be treated to many weeks of beauty.  The flowering period goes from late December up until the end of June.
• The Shape:  As a bell, a trumpet, or a lily, it forms into a vibrant blossom.  But looking at it directly from the front, it’s a flower that has a star shape.
• Petals:  The amaryllis is a flower that has three petals.  While it might seem like there are six, that’s actually the sepals and the petals combined.
• Numerology:  Amaryllis is the number 11 in numerology.
• Color:  The most popular color for the amaryllis is red which represents the blood from Amaryllis’ heart in Greek mythology.  However, there are also varieties of color with this flower like white, yellow, pink and a mix of all four colors.
• Herbalism and Medicine:  Some specific species of the amaryllis have been used in folk medicine for the treatment of cancer.