This January, we first flowered Hippeastrum idimae, a 2017 published species from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that we received from our friends at Yucca Do in 2015. This new species was discovered by amateur Brazilian botanist, Idimá Gonçalves da Costa, in a long-ago deforested area, where it had survived among a few granite outcrops. This woodland grower is what’s known as a micro-endemic, meaning there is now only a single population of less than 40 plants in existence in the wild, making it one of the rarest plants in existence. Our first attempt at winter hardiness wasn’t successful, but we’ve kept one pot indoors for now, although in the future, we will eventually trial another in a better site. This species is already being shared slowly through bulb collectors, so at least it will be preserved in ex-situ collections.
