South African Bulbs 2013

[YT]

Tatsuo, this flower is just a dream

I'm lucky that winter here is brighter than yours, Dirk

[YT]

At last, Lachenalia viridiflora has just started to bloom today. It's a month later than the usual.

[bulborum]

You must have plenty of light YT
keeping your Lachenalia's so perfect
fantastic picture
plant I mean   

Roland

[Peter Maguire]

That's a lovely compact plant - are you using supplementary lighting?

[YT]

Thank you Roland and Peter. The latitude here is N34°58′, so such half hardy south african bulbs don't requier any special treatment at here, except rain cover at flowering season.

[johnw]

YT  - Your Lachenalias are beautifully grown.  Mine are quite floppy at this time of year at latitude 44+.

Can you tell me, mine flower for the first time and I expected they'd have developed mottled leaves by now but they are solid green?

Mine were seed grown and the leaves are narrow. Do I have a green-leafed form that will never do the spotting?  Or am I just too impatient?

johnw

[Peter Maguire]

The latitude here is N34°58′

That explains it - we're at 55ºN here. I guess I'll have to reconcile myself to floppy Lachenalias. 

[jshields]

That explains it - we're at 55ºN here. I guess I'll have to reconcile myself to floppy Lachenalias. 

I'm at 40ºN here, and my Lachenalia are mostly too floppy as well.  We have very little sunshine here in December and January, which is the heart of the problem.

Jim

[arillady]

I'd never have thought of Lachenalia's having floppy leaves.

[YT]

Thank you, John As far as I know, plane green leaved seedlings won't change to spotted leaf, but perhaps it will get wider next season

Peter and Jim, the solar altitude and weather condition affect to plants more than I thought

Pat, your place is S35º and almost same as South Africa

[Gert Hoek]

This is the first flower of Romulea tortuosa seedling, sown on 23. Sep. 2010, from Silverhill Seeds #2204.

Beautifull Tatsuo, and there is a flower after two and a half years!

[ArnoldT]

Here's Lachenalia comptonii with trichomes on the upper surface of the leaf.

[arillady]

Love the hairiness.

[Darren]

YT  - Your Lachenalias are beautifully grown.  Mine are quite floppy at this time of year at latitude 44+.

Can you tell me, mine flower for the first time and I expected they'd have developed mottled leaves by now but they are solid green?

Mine were seed grown and the leaves are narrow. Do I have a green-leafed form that will never do the spotting?  Or am I just too impatient?

johnw

John, according to Graham Duncan's (wonderful) monograph this species is predominantly plain leaved in the wild, with a smaller proportion of spotted ones. The two forms grow alongside each other (as shown in two habitat photos in the book). I don't think yours are likely to develop spots as they get older I'm afraid.

However - if you cross pollinate between your plants I guess there is a chance a spotted form could appear in the seedlings if the genetic potential exists in the population.

Elsewhere in the book it is postulated that spotted leaves in Lachenalia are an adaptation to visually disguise the leaves from grazing herbivores. If this were the case in this species then (assuming the presence of herbivores) I would expect a strong selection pressure for spotted forms to become more prevalent over time. Perhaps the few remaining populations of the species are protected from grazing so the spotted ones have no selective advantage?

[Maggi Young]

I keep coming back to marvel at that smart pot of Lachenalia viridiflora -  a question  - are the leaves "only" spotted" in colour, or is there also a dimensional factor? Are the spots raised, also?