Citation: L., Syst. Nat. edn 10:986 (1759).

Derivation: Greek hypoxis, somewhat acid; but said to have been applied by Linnaeus in the sense of "acute beneath", because the capsule is contracted at the base.

Synonymy: Not Applicable

Common name: None

Description:
Rootstock a corm or corm-like, covered and crowned with coarse stiff fibres; leaves long, grass-like, radical, but the sheaths clasping the base of the filiform stem or scape.

Flowers solitary at the summit of the stems or the branches; perianth persistent, divided to the inferior ovary into 6 spreading segments; stamens normally 6; ovary 3-celled, with many ovules in each cell; style short, with 3 erect linear stigmas; the segments and stamens sometimes 4 instead of 6, and the cells and stigmas 2 instead of 3.

Capsule with a thin pericarp, fused at the summit with the base of the permanent perianth and circumsciss at this point (a little below the summit), the remainder of the capsule then splitting into 3 valves; seeds globular.

Distribution:  About 100 species in America, Africa, eastern Asia and Australia.

Biology: No text

Key to Species:

1. Scape with 1 bract 1.5-4 cm long; perianth-segments 6-18 mm long.	H. glabella 1.
1. Scape with 2 bracts to 6 mm long; perianth-segments 4-8 mm long	H. hookeri 2.

Author: Not yet available