South African Bulbs/Geophytes 2017

[Paul Cumbleton]

Diane, your eyes don't deceive you about deliciousness! - The Gethyllis fruits are both highly aromatic and edible – it used to be common for people in South Africa, especially children, to go out and collect them to eat. I have tried them myself from my own plants and while finding them very agreeable I was wincing at the seed destruction I was just causing! Now I try to just enjoy the aroma while sowing the seeds. Seed viability is very short and it must be sown immediately that it is ripe, not allowing it to dry between collection and sowing - like many Amaryllids with this type of seed it sometimes starts to germinate while still on the parent plant. This year I hand pollinated all the species i grow and have fruits on most of them. I have already sowed the seed from one species and within a fortnight little green leaves are evident.

Paul

[Steve Garvie]

The edible fruits are a bit of a delicacy and amongst other things are used to make Kukumakranka Brandy (http://africanaromatics.com/christmas-stars-kukumakrankasgethyliscape-crocus/).

I tasted some Gethyllis villosa fruit about 4 weeks ago (the only species I have which is large enough to fruit) -it was a bit like a sweet date or fig though there wasn’t enough of it to be sure. I only got about 14 seeds from the fruit but at least half of them are germinating.

As regards decorative appearance I prefer Halle Berry to hallii berries.

I love the varied appearance of gethyllis leaves. It is a much undervalued genus which has a lot to offer. It’s a pity they aren’t easier to get hold of. They are certainly more temperature hardy than many of the coastal South African/Mediterranean bulbs that we grow.

Gethyllis oligophylla


Gethyllis verticillata


Gethyllis britteniana


Gethyllis villosa


Gethyllis oliverum

[johnralphcarpenter]

Wonderful Genus!

[Steve Garvie]

I bought this as Cyrtanthus flammosus but I think it might be Cyrtanthus sanguineus -what do you think?

[Maggi Young]

Re: Gethyllis fruits .... these pix of  Gethyllis verticillata were recently posted  on Facebook by Kirsten Anderson....


in flower, July 2017


seedpod October 2017


pot with leaves and pods

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009391987173
 www.alpines.dk

[fermi de Sousa]

A couple of late spring flowering corms:
Geissorhiza radians - a few survived the frosty winter
Geissorhiza darlingensis (though this might be another similar species)
cheers
fermi

[SJW]

Lachenalia viridiflora

[Gail]

Lovely Steve - such an astonishing colour, like Strongylodon macrobotrys but I suspect somewhat easier to grow...

[SJW]

Lovely Steve - such an astonishing colour, like Strongylodon macrobotrys but I suspect somewhat easier to grow...

Yes, it is an unusual colour, Gail. And I don't have to replicate the tropical forest conditions of the Philippines!

[David Nicholson]

This from small bulbs the SABG Exchange earlier this year. Polyxena pauciflora

[angie]

Really nice David, well grown.

Angie 

[SJW]

Lachenalia bulbifera ex Vredenburg (Gordon Summerfield seed).

[ashley]

Interesting to see these Steve.  Here are their wild cousins, along the coast near Vredenburg last July. 
The last pic shows what I think is L. bulbifera too, but on the south coast at Cape Agulhas.  In this population the leaves are heavily spotted.

[SJW]

Thanks for sharing these photos, Ashley. As you say, interesting to compare.

[ArnoldT]

Graham Duncan has renamed L. bulbifera as L. bifolia