Clivia （Kaffir lily）， which belongs to the genus Clivia of the family Amaryllidaceae and natively distributes in South Africa， is considered as one of the most famous evergreen ornamental plants in the world. Several new species of the genus Clivia， and a new natural hybrid， Clivia×nimbicola， have been discovered in recent years. Up to date， six Clivia species and three varieties have been recognized. China is one of the largest countries for clivia production in the world， whereas only few studies have been carried out in China. The taxonomy of Clivia species and cultivars is often confused or with mistake. Several clivia cultivars are commercially available in market， but they are yet reported in academic journals. This review introduced the phenotypic characteristics of Clivia species， varieties， cultivars and types， and generated the dichotomous key that enables to clarity several confusing species. Based on the marketing and scientific research in China， ten series of the commercial clivia cultivars are suggested. We provide the prospective on the germplasm resources innovation， floral breeding， in vitro propagation and molecular breeding in clivia， which would have implication in clivia marketing and these academic research.