Agapanthus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, where it is the sole genus of the subfamily Agapanthoideae, within the order Asparagales. Established by Charles Louis L’Héritier de Brutelle in 1788, it comprises roughly six to ten species depending on the authority (the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families recognises seven), all native to southern Africa. The plants are herbaceous perennials that mostly bloom in summer, growing from an underground rhizome that serves as a storage organ. They bear basal, curved, linear leaves and tall erect flowering stalks (scapes) topped by rounded pseudo-umbels of funnel- to tubular-shaped flowers in hues of blue and purple shading to white. Commonly known as African lily or lily of the Nile—though they are neither true lilies nor native to the Nile—Agapanthus are among the most widely grown ornamental plants in temperate and Mediterranean gardens, with several hundred cultivars and hybrids in cultivation. The genus has had a complex taxonomic history, having been placed over time in Liliaceae, Alliaceae, and even its own family Agapanthaceae before its current placement in Amaryllidaceae.
Etymology
The genus name Agapanthus derives from the Ancient Greek words agápē (ἀγάπη), meaning “love,” and ánthos (ἄνθος), meaning “flower”—literally “flower of love.” The common names African lily and lily of the Nile are both somewhat misleading: the plants are not true lilies, and they are native to southern Africa rather than the Nile region.
Distribution
Agapanthus is native to southern Africa. Plants of the World Online records its native range across the Cape Provinces, KwaZulu-Natal, the Northern Provinces, and Mozambique, with the wider native distribution also taking in Lesotho and Eswatini. Through widespread cultivation it has been introduced and naturalised well beyond its native range, becoming established in regions including Australia, Great Britain, Mexico, Ethiopia, and Jamaica.
Taxonomy
The genus was established by Charles Louis L’Héritier de Brutelle in 1788. Agapanthus has had an unusually unsettled taxonomic placement: it was long treated in Liliaceae, then moved to Alliaceae in 1985, and was given its own family, Agapanthaceae, under the APG II system in 1998. Since the APG III classification of 2009 it has been placed in Amaryllidaceae as the sole genus of the subfamily Agapanthoideae. The number of recognised species also remains debated, ranging from six to ten depending on the authority, with the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families recognising seven.
Cultivation
Agapanthus are popular ornamental plants grown for their showy summer pseudo-umbels of blue, purple, or white flowers, and several hundred cultivars and hybrids are in cultivation. They are propagated by dividing established clumps or from seed, the seeds of most varieties being fertile. Hardiness varies by species and cultivar; Agapanthus praecox, for example, is suited to USDA hardiness zones 9 to 11, making the genus widely planted in temperate and Mediterranean gardens.
