The bases of the leaves (petioles) are tightly wrapped to form a pseudostem or false stem up to 60 cm (24 in) long.

The flowers are directed downwards, unusually for the genus (only Scadoxus nutans shares this characteristic, but in this case the scape bends over[4]).

[5] Scadoxus cyrtanthiflorus was first collected in 1895 by the South African botanist George F. Scott-Elliott.

However, his specimen was poorly preserved and it was based on a later collection that Charles Henry Wright described and named the species as Haemanthus cyrtanthiflorus in 1906.

[8] Scadoxus cyrtanthiflorus is endemic to the Rwenzori Mountains on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Plants normally grow in constantly moist, shady habitats in forest undergrowth, either in the ground in highly organic soils, as epiphytes on tree trunks or on rocks and boulders.