See text Boophone is a small genus of herbaceous, perennial and bulbous plants in the Amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae.

[4] William Herbert wrote the name of this genus with three different orthographies: "Boophane" in 1821; "Buphane" and "Buphone" in 1825.

The name was derived from the Greek bous (an ox) and phone (death), due to its toxic nature to cattle.

[8] Larvae of the moth genera Brithys and Diaphone use Boophone as a food plant.

Boophone disticha is used in South African traditional medicine by the Zulu people to induce hallucinations for divinatory purposes, and also for various mental illnesses.