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Eriospermum mackenii

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Photo
from Specks Exotica.

Author: John Gilbert Baker, 1876
Family:  ERIOSPERMACEAE*
Origin:  Botswana, Eswatini, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe
Soil:  Grit
Water:  Medium
Sun:  Maximum
Thickness:  4 Centimetres
Height:  12 (25) Centimetres
Flower:  Yellow
Propagate:  Seeds
Names:  Yellow Fluffy-Seed
Synonyms:  Bulbine mackenii, Hook.f. 1872.
Eriospermum junodii
Baker, 1901.
Eriospermum veratriforme
Peter ex Poelln. 1943.
Eriospermum mackenii subsp. galpinii, P.L.Perry
Eriospermum mackenii subsp. phippsii, P.L.Perry.

This member of the Eriospermaceae family was given this name by John Gilbert Baker in 1876. It is found in most of southern Africa, growing in a well drained soil with some water and lots of sun. The caudex can grow to four centimetres in diameter, the entire plant to twelve centimetres in height, the inflorescence up to 25 centimetres with yellow flowers.

The genera name from Greek; erion; 'woll' and Greek sperma; 'seed'. The species name after Mark Johnston McKen, 1823-1872, a Scottish horticulturist, working in Jamaica and South Africa.

*)Accordantly to the latest taxonomic system; APG IV 2016, Eriospermaceae is now part of the Asparagaceae.