Narrative
Hippeastrum x hybridum ‘Andy’ is a moderately compact amaryllis cultivar. Bulbs are 6.0-9.7 cm diam (19-30 cm circumference), producing 3-5 offsets annually. Leaves are strap-shaped, deep green, 6-8 per bulb, up to 12 late in the season, 45-55 cm long, lengthening to 68-73 cm late in the season, 6.5-7.1 cm wide at the midpoint. Bulbs produce 2-3 scapes annually, 31-48 cm long, each bearing 4-6 flowers; pedicels are 5-9.5 cm long. Flowers are broadly funnel-form, 13 to 17 cm long, 13-14 cm wide laterally and 16-17 cm wide dorsal-ventrally, the six tepals fused and forming a tube in the proximal 2 cm., green (L*(C) = 57.18, a*(C) = -14.00, b*(C) = 33.41). The broadly ovate outer tepals are 12.0-12.5 cm long, 7.5-8.0 cm wide, with an apiculate apex, appearing luminous and crystalline, striated RHS red-purple 60A on their adaxial surface against a white background, most intensely on the laterals and most densely towards the keel, yellow-green at the base, with median white keels 1.3-1.5 cm wide, and a picotee of red purple. The abaxial surface striations more diffuse, with a white background and some green towards the base. The throat is yellow-green, with a ring of short lacinate fimbrae and a narrow red-purple margin. The lateral inner tepals are 11.0-11.5 cm long, 7.4-7.8 cm wide; the ventral inner tepal is 11.5-12.0 cm long, 6.0-6.5 cm wide; both surfaces colored as per the outer whorl. Stamens are 8.0-9.0 cm long, the filaments white in their distal 2/3, yellow-green proximal 1/3; pollen is yellow. The style is 11.5-12.0 cm long, colored like the staminal filaments; the tri-lobed stigma is ca. 7 mm wide. ‘Andy’ is fourth generation complex hybrid began as a primary cross of H. ambiguum x H. papilio, introgressed with H.brasilianum and the cultivar ‘Mt. Blanc’.