Hippeastrum is a renowed ornamental plant with gorgeous flowers; seventy species represent this genus, originating from central or south America. Despite its diffusion it is often named or confused with the south-African unique species Amaryllis belladonna. Seed propagation is made after breeding to select the best material and vegetative propagation is made with the underground reserve organs. Many varieties have been developed throughout the years by traditional intra- and interspecific breeding, giving rise to a huge number of cultivars with a wide range of colors and quality traits. The in vitro propagation has been used to speed up the propagation of value varieties for a fast market introduction, and also for the study and production of secondary metabolites which find application in medicine and pest biocontrol. Several systems in solidified medium or in temporary immersion have been evaluated and somatic embryogenesisSomatic embryogenesis has been reported with good results. A further improvement of breeding is expected to come from the exploitation of novel molecular techniques such as molecular markersMolecular markers, which will help in identifying the genetic bases of complex traits, e.g. flower scent, novel colors and resistance to biotic stressesBiotic Stress.