Mod 6 Feb 2001
Narcissus Indicus flore rubro Vulgo Jacobeus t. 21

Sprekelia formosissima was called Narcissus Jacobeus by Clusius because it reminded his Spanish friend Dr. Simone de Tovar of the crimson sword worn as a badge by the Knights of the Order of St James. Engraving by Pierre Vallet from his florilegium, Le iardin dv roy très chrestien Henry IV roy de France et de Navare dédié à la royne (1608).

Exoticae qvaedam plantae a Iohanne Robino iuniore ex Guinea & Hispania delatae, anno 1603.

Tobia Aldinus (1625) described a different Narcissus Jacobeus.


Vallet also depicted Lilio N' Indicus autunalis flore phoeniceo (Hippeastrum puniceum), t. 24 (detail below left), and Narscisus Indicus Maior Rubello flore (Cape Belladonna?), t. 27 (detail below right). These are the earliest depictions of the American Amaryllids I've found. It is more than a little surprising that these important plates have not been mentioned before now. The colors are not original. "Rubello" and "fort blanchette, & les ombres de carmin" suggest the colors of the Cape Belladonna rather than an American species.


Vallet described the three species, which were numbered differently in the 1623 edition:

Narcissus Indicus Flo. rubro vulgo Iacobeus.
D'vn rouge cramoisi, & le col aussi, les estamines vn peu vert de mer, le cul noir.

Lilio Narcissus indicus Autunalis flore feniceo.
Elle est d'vn beau rouge ardant, & ce que vous voyez de blanc, il le faut obseruer, les estamines iaunes, ce qui les soustient verd, & le brin four chu couleur de chair.

Narcissus Indicus maior rubello flore
Elle est de laque, fort blanchette, & les ombres de carmin, les estamines iaunes laque rougeaster, auec vn petit de vert.