It was long thought that these plants needed fire in order to flower, but this is probably only true of plants growing naturally in the wild. As the plants grow in extremely thick wetland vegetation it makes good sense to expend energy on flowering only when this dense plant cover has been burned off and the pollinators can see and approach the flowers. It has been found that clearing the vegetation in the areas in which they grow will also promote flowering. Plants in pots in cultivation have also flowered without the benefit of fire and it is probably the availabilityof sufficient space, air, sun light and warmth that encourages flowering.

Bees have been seen on the flowers and are the probable pollinators. As with other members of the Amaryllis family, seeds are not long-lived and germinate almost immediately. Seed set coincides with the start of the rainy season to provide the best opportunity for the seedlings to grow large enough to survive the dry period when the plants become dormant. As the plants flower and set seed after a fire when the area is not covered by other growth, the seedlings experience optimal growing conditions with little competition from other plants and the availability of nutrients from the ash and plenty of moisture and sunlight needed for growth.