South African bulbose plants 2009

[Maggi Young]

".... scrape em off, Jim!!"  

Should I admit I actually HAVE that single somewhere (or I used to), and that I have been to star trek conventions.... in costume!! 

No, Paul.... I'd keep pretty quiet about that, if I were you......    

[Paul T]

Thanks Maggi.  I'll keep that in mind in the future if it comes up. 

[Ray]

Does Romulea sabulosa normally have variable flowers? This year for the first time I noticed that some of the flowers were different bye Ray

[fermi de Sousa]

Fermi, I think your yellow Romulea is R. saldanhensis, a pic of mine is below for comparison.

Lovely R. hantamensis.

Thanks for the suggestion, David. Your flower is stunning !
cheers
fermi

[t00lie]

Fermi
 
I also grow Romulea saldanhensis which is orange yellow as shown in David N's pic.

Your unidentified bulb is pale yellow with a green throat which has similarities to some of the forms of R. hirta ...........

To enable a more definitive answer ---a shot of the back of the petals / close up of the cross sectioned leaves ,(to identify degree of any hairiness), and the number of leaves would help.

Cheers Dave.

[David Nicholson]

Mmmmmm, you could be right Dave. I had a look on the PBS Wiki and the yellow form of Romulea hirta shown there has abrowny/green throat with a red/brown edge to it but I don't know how common this is. The Wiki goes on to say (about R. hirta) "the distictive identifying trait are the leaves which have the lateral ribs reduced and medium ribs widened to form 4 longitudinal wings"

I'm not sure I understand that

[Paul T]

Hesperantha latifolia, a rather diminutive plant (maybe 8-10cm tall, but with comparatively large flowers (these would be 2.5cm or more wide).  They are satiny in texture, and quite shiny.  I thought I had lost them last year until they popped up again.  There are even offsets in there, so hopefully they're coming back. 

Please click on the pic for a larger version.

[David Nicholson]

Very nice Paul. I must admit I like Hesperantha a lot, so very simple flowers and very colourful. I have H. baurii frm seed sown on 7 March 2008 from SRGC Seed Ex. 2007/08 which gave me two flowers this year but never got round to photographing them. According to my records I also have H. huttonii from seed sown on the same date as the above but haven't a clue where it is!

Later edit

Found it, and it has a flower. If it ever stops raining I'll get a picture of it. (I just grow too much stuff!!)

[Paul T]

David,

I'm glad my pic prompted you to find a flower you hadn't seen.  Always good.  I've often seen things here that have sent me looking for my own, only to find them growing or flowering madly when I hadn't even realised they were doing so. 

[fermi de Sousa]

Fermi
 
I also grow Romulea saldanhensis which is orange yellow as shown in David N's pic.

Your unidentified bulb is pale yellow with a green throat which has similarities to some of the forms of R. hirta ...........

To enable a more definitive answer ---a shot of the back of the petals / close up of the cross sectioned leaves ,(to identify degree of any hairiness), and the number of leaves would help.

Cheers Dave.

Dave,
I forgot all about taking a pic of the foliage and back of the petals - may be able to do that tonight.

This is another Romulea which I got as R.cruciata but I think may also be a form of R. hirta,



Another pic of Moraea tripetala,


cheers
fermi

[David Nicholson]

Here's my Hesperantha huttoni grown from seed sown 7 March 2008

[Alessandro.marinello]

Hesperantha latifolia, a rather diminutive plant (maybe 8-10cm tall, but with comparatively large flowers (these would be 2.5cm or more wide).  They are satiny in texture, and quite shiny.  I thought I had lost them last year until they popped up again.  There are even offsets in there, so hopefully they're coming back. 

Please click on the pic for a larger version.

nice plant Paul, I possess the usual H.coccinea

[Paul T]

Nice, David.

Alessandro,

Just the name makes me shudder.... such a weed here.  Took me 3 years to finally eradicate it (the normal red one) from my garden after I made the mistake of planting it.  When one popped up more than a foot from the parent I started getting worried, and when popped up 1m from the parent I started removing.  That was all within the first year or two, and it then took me 3 years to finally have no more coming up.  They're lovely plants but need containment here in my garden situation.  I'd put them into large self-watering tubs, but all of mine are taken up with Alstroemerias (which are another weed species here if in the ground, but in tubs with good watering they do brilliantly). 

[Alessandro.marinello]

Nice, David.

Alessandro,

Just the name makes me shudder.... such a weed here.  Took me 3 years to finally eradicate it (the normal red one) from my garden after I made the mistake of planting it.  When one popped up more than a foot from the parent I started getting worried, and when popped up 1m from the parent I started removing.  That was all within the first year or two, and it then took me 3 years to finally have no more coming up.  They're lovely plants but need containment here in my garden situation.  I'd put them into large self-watering tubs, but all of mine are taken up with Alstroemerias (which are another weed species here if in the ground, but in tubs with good watering they do brilliantly).  

Paul
Now I have understood, because they have a low price, in Australia pay who eliminates to them 

[Michael J Campbell]

Amaryllis belladona hyb grown from seed.