George Ehret's famous Cape Belladonna is labeled
"Lilio-Narcissus Americanus Belladona dictus par. bat.", incorrectly
identifying it as the plant described and illustrated by Paul Hermann in
his Paradisus Batavus (1698). Furthermore, Hermann did not use the
name "Lilio-Narcissus". It was Plukenet who altered Hermann's phrase-name
from "Lilium Americanum puniceo flore Bella Donna dictum." Plukenet also
confused Morison's phrase-name for the Italian Belladonna with Aldini's
"Lilionarcissus rubeus indicus", which Ehret recognized as the West Indies
Red Lily.
In the 1741 edition of Gardeners Dictionary Sloane's description of
the West Indies Red Lily was still associated with the correct plant. Apparently
Ehret's painting contributed to the myth that Sloane had collected this plant
in Barbados.
