Man, the wonders never cease in my garden... This plant has no leaves of its own that I can find, just this bizarre and beautiful flowering stalk. The habit of blooming before making leaves reminds me of Amaryllis, but the flower just isn't saying Amaryllis to me. It actually kind of reminds me of royal fritillary. Am I way off base? What is this thing? Thanks!
Possibly amarylis family, maybe even a Lycoris or at least a relation. There are many plants in this family, also in a tropical country with a moist climate such as Ecuador there are going to be a great many native species of plants in addition to familiar garden favorites - a new plant encountered doesn't have to be some very common item at all. This is certainly not a fritillary, those have bell-shaped flowers. Your plant lacks petal-like parts entirely (or has them much reduced), the bulk of the color is being provided by filaments.
It looks awfully similar to this photograph of Eucrosia mirabilis (and here, too). Quite a plant with an interesting story, if that's indeed what it is... (and I don't think there is too much else that looks like that!)
