Brunsvigia josephinae, Josephine's lily or candelabra lily.
This is a spectacular bulb when in full flower in autumn each year. It has the largest flower cluster in the Amaryllis family and it is said to have the world's largest bulb up to 20cm across. Some flowering clusters have been seen up to nearly a metre across!
It is a rare South African native long-lived bulb but it's easy to grow in the right conditions.
The genus name Brunsvigia was in honour of the house of Brunswick. The specific name josephinae was named in honour of the Empress Josephine, (Joséphine de Beauharnais) Napoleon's first wife.
Brunsvigia josephinae comes from an area with a very dry summer, so it has adapted by being dormant and deciduous in summer, and growing during the wetter winter. It makes about 8 to 20 attractive, bluish-green leaves, each about 60cm long. In late spring or summer, the leaves die back and the bulb lays dormant.
The plant does best between 5-28°C during the growing season of April to October nd in New Zealand will tolerate a light frost. The bulb should be planted in a relatively dry place and given regular watering during the winter growing season. Grow it in well-drained soil, with the top part of the bulb exposed and exposed to full sun in winter.
In late summer, before the new leaves appear, it sends up its dramatic flower stalk up to 60cm tall. The scape can have about 30 to 50 deep pink to scarlet flowers, each about 5cm or more long in an umbel or umbrella like shape The unusually long individual flower stems act as landing places for birds, especially hummingbirds who are after the nectar.
The fruit is a roundish capsule 30-50 mm long and the seeds are ovoid, reddish-green, fleshy, 5-10 mm in diameter and are dispersed when the capsule ruptures and are dispersed by the tumbling of the inflorescence in the wind. From seed, plants may take up to 14 years to mature.
Plants grow naturally in the winter-rainfall area from the western Karoo, Worcester, Malgas to Willowmore in South Africa. They are found usually on cooler and exposed southern slopes in sandy to clay soils in broken renosterveld mostly in Malmesbury shale, limestone and weathered sandstone. Being deciduous geophytes, they are able to withstand seasonal droughts and very low temperatures in the winter and are also resistant to veld fires.
The family name Amaryllidaceae is from the name Amaryllus, a pretty shepherdess mentioned by Theocritus, Virgil and Ovid. There are approximately 20 species of Brunsvigia found throughout southern Africa.
Besides its value in ornamental horticulture, the dry bulb tunics are used as a wound dressing. It is known that young Xhosa men use the tunics as plasters after circumcision.
Propagation by seed sown soon after ripening as the seed starts germinating straight away. A coarse medium such as river sand is ideal, and seedlings must be kept moist, but not overwatered.
Not many pests are known to attack B. josephinae.
This wonderful and amazing bulb is well worth growing in dry summer conditions and when in flower is a great talking point.
You can view more images on my Pinterest page Brunsvigia josephinae
References
http://www.strangewonderfulthings.com/270.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunsvigia_josephinae
It is a rare South African native long-lived bulb but it's easy to grow in the right conditions.
The genus name Brunsvigia was in honour of the house of Brunswick. The specific name josephinae was named in honour of the Empress Josephine, (Joséphine de Beauharnais) Napoleon's first wife.
Brunsvigia josephinae comes from an area with a very dry summer, so it has adapted by being dormant and deciduous in summer, and growing during the wetter winter. It makes about 8 to 20 attractive, bluish-green leaves, each about 60cm long. In late spring or summer, the leaves die back and the bulb lays dormant.
The plant does best between 5-28°C during the growing season of April to October nd in New Zealand will tolerate a light frost. The bulb should be planted in a relatively dry place and given regular watering during the winter growing season. Grow it in well-drained soil, with the top part of the bulb exposed and exposed to full sun in winter.
In late summer, before the new leaves appear, it sends up its dramatic flower stalk up to 60cm tall. The scape can have about 30 to 50 deep pink to scarlet flowers, each about 5cm or more long in an umbel or umbrella like shape The unusually long individual flower stems act as landing places for birds, especially hummingbirds who are after the nectar.
The fruit is a roundish capsule 30-50 mm long and the seeds are ovoid, reddish-green, fleshy, 5-10 mm in diameter and are dispersed when the capsule ruptures and are dispersed by the tumbling of the inflorescence in the wind. From seed, plants may take up to 14 years to mature.
Plants grow naturally in the winter-rainfall area from the western Karoo, Worcester, Malgas to Willowmore in South Africa. They are found usually on cooler and exposed southern slopes in sandy to clay soils in broken renosterveld mostly in Malmesbury shale, limestone and weathered sandstone. Being deciduous geophytes, they are able to withstand seasonal droughts and very low temperatures in the winter and are also resistant to veld fires.
The family name Amaryllidaceae is from the name Amaryllus, a pretty shepherdess mentioned by Theocritus, Virgil and Ovid. There are approximately 20 species of Brunsvigia found throughout southern Africa.
Besides its value in ornamental horticulture, the dry bulb tunics are used as a wound dressing. It is known that young Xhosa men use the tunics as plasters after circumcision.
Propagation by seed sown soon after ripening as the seed starts germinating straight away. A coarse medium such as river sand is ideal, and seedlings must be kept moist, but not overwatered.
Not many pests are known to attack B. josephinae.
This wonderful and amazing bulb is well worth growing in dry summer conditions and when in flower is a great talking point.
You can view more images on my Pinterest page Brunsvigia josephinae
References
http://www.strangewonderfulthings.com/270.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunsvigia_josephinae