The genera of Haemanthinae share brush-like inflorescences, in which the bracts frequently form part of the pollinator attraction system.

[4] Later, Traub placed Haemanthus with Choananthus (subsequently submerged in Scadoxus) in tribe Haemantheae in his 1963 monograph on the Amaryllidaceae.

[5] Later the Müller-Doblies' created a narrower concept of Haemantheae as a tribe with Haemanthinae as one of two subtribes and two genera, Haemanthus and Scadoxus.

[6] Molecular phylogenetic research has confirmed this placement, with Meerow and Clayton (2004) situating Haemanthinae[note 1] as one of three subtribes of Haemantheae.

Haemanthus on the other hand is confined to southern Africa, within the summer and winter rainfall regions of the Cape.