bowdenii W.Watson – Eastern Cape Province to KwaZulu-Natal Nerine duparquetiana (Baill.) Baker (sparse pedicel hair) Nerine krigei W.F.Barker – Zimbabwe to Northern Cape Province Nerine laticoma (Ker Gawl.) T.Durand & Schinz – Southern Zimbabwe to Northern Cape Province Nerine huttoniae Schönland – Eastern Cape Province Nerine pusilla Dinter – East and central Namibia (narrow-leafed, sparse pedicel hair)) Nerine undulata (L.) Herb. – Eastern Cape Province (winter and summer growing) Other (not accessed) Nerine hesseoides L.Bolus – Northern Cape Province to Free State Nerine transvaalensis L.Bolus – Northern Cape Province Species assigned to other genera Nerine aurea (syn. Lycoris aurea) Hybrids Nerine hybrids, along with the parent species, where known, are the following: Nerine × allenii auct. Nerine × excellens T.Moore = N. humilis × N. undulata Nerine × mansellii O'Brien ex Baker = N. flexuosa × N. sarniensis Nerine × mutabilis O'Brien Nerine × stricklandii auct. = N. pudica × N. sarniensis Nerine × traubianthe Moldenke = N. filifolia × N. 'Rosalba' Nerine × versicolor Herb. = N. sarniensis × N. undulata – Cape Province Some Nerine species have been used to produce a hybrid with members of the genus Amaryllis, which are included in the hybrid genus (nothogenus) × Amarine. One of these hybrids is × Amarine tubergenii Sealy, which comes from a cross between Amaryllis belladonna and Nerine bowdenii. Etymology The genus name given to it by Herbert in 1820 derives from the Nereids (sea-nymphs) of Greek mythology that protected sailors and their ships. Herbert combined Morison's account of the plant being washed ashore from a shipwreck with Renaissance poetry, alluding to the rescue of Vasco da Gama’s ship by a Nereid in the epic poem of Camões, Os Lusiadas. Although bearing the name "lily" in the vernacular, Nerine is only distantly related to the true lilies (Lilium) of the lily family, Liliaceae, sensu stricto. Instead they are one of many genera placed in the amaryllid lily family, Amaryllidaceae, such as the closely related Amaryllis, and Lycoris. These were once part of the much larger construction of Liliaceae sensu lato. The name "spider lily" is shared by a number of different genera within Amaryllidaceae. For instance, Lycoris aurea may be sold under its earlier synonym, Nerine aurea. Distribution and habitat Nerine are native to Southern Africa, their distribution range being from the Cape Peninsula in the south to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia to the northwest and northeast of