Previous plant

Lachenalia bulbifera

Next plant

Wild plant by Ori Fragman-Sapir, Powo.science.kew.org.


Photo by Cameron McMaster.

Author: Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler, 1899
Family:  HYACINTHACEAE*
Origin:  Western Cape; South Africa
Soil:  Sand - Mix
Water:  Medium
Sun:  Medium - Maximum
Thickness:  4 Centimetres
Height:  20 Centimetres
Flower:  Orange - Red / Green
Propagate:  Seeds/Bulbs
Names:  Rooinaeltjie
Synonyms:  Phormium bulbiferum, Domenico Maria Leone Cirillo, 1788.
Lachenalia pendula
, William Aiton.
Lachenalia bifolia, W.F.Barker ex G.D.Duncan.
Lachenalia linguiformis, Lam.
Scilla decora, Salisb.
Aletris bifolia, Burm.f.

This member of the Hyacinthaceae family was given this name by Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler in 1899. It is found in the Western Cape in South Africa, growing in sandy or other well drained soil with some water and some to lots of sun. The caudex can grow to four centimetres in diameter, the entire plant to 20 centimetres in height. The flowers are from orange to red with green tips.

The genera name is in honour of the Swiss botanist Prof. Werner de Lachenal (Warnerus de la Chenal), 1739-1800. The specific name bulbifera from the Latin: bulbi, meaning 'bulbs', and fero, meaning 'bearing' or 'carrying', and referring to the bulbils that often develop along the leaf base margins in certain forms of this species.

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

This is a winter-grower.