The showy, funnel-shaped flowers are produced in an umbel-shaped inflorescence, colored red, orange or yellow, sometimes with a faint, but very sweet perfume.

The genus Clivia, was named after the Duchess of Northumberland, Lady Charlotte Clive, who first cultivated the plant in England and provided the flowers for the type specimen.

Like its relative, C. nobilis, it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit,[6] along with the variety C. miniata var.

[8] In warmer sites, it is frequently seen in public installations and is used in shaded landscapes for its attractive, evergreen foliage and showy sprays of flowers.

[9] Cultivars include Clivia miniata 'Kirstenbosch Splendour', bred by Graham Duncan, which illustrates the cover of the Kirstenbosch centenary book (2013).