The flowers of Clivia miniata vary from red through shades of orange, cream, yellow and even pink. Clivia miniata var. citrina is a particularly good companion variety for Italian growers cultivating the standard red/orange flowered varieties. It produces golden-centred, butter yellow flowers which are followed by seed pods which eventually turn bright yellow. The seedpods of all these varieties are very poisonous and should be kept away from children and pets. Plants flower in later winter and early spring and under good light conditions the bulb will frequently throw up two stems of upward turned trumpet shaped flowers. Selective breeding has produced varieties with shorter broader leaves and shorter flower stalks. C.miniata 'Striata' has attractive white or yellow stripes along the length of the leaves, flower stalks and seed pods. Current breeding work seeks to produce novel flower shapes (including double and semi-double flowers) and unusual colour patterns. In some countries such as China the interest of these plants centres on the vegetative characteristics, particularly with variegated varieties seeking neat plants which a symmetrical ratio of leaf length to breadth. Clivia thrives in light shade preferring a minimum temperature of 5-10°C. Plants are tolerant of most types of substrate, providing it has adequate humus content and good drainage. For further information: Clivia Society, South Africa. E-mail: woodward@nbict.nbi.ac.za