''Eucomis amaryllidifolia'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, native to the

Cape Provinces The Cape Provinces of South Africa is a biogeographical area used in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD). It is part of the WGSRPD region 27 Southern Africa. The area has the code "CPP". It includes the Sout ...

. It is a short, summer-flowering bulbous plant, with a dense spike ( raceme) of yellowish-green flowers topped by a "head" of leafy bracts. In

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

it is called ('rock lily').

Description

''Eucomis amaryllidifolia'' is a short summer-growing bulbous plant, tall. Its bulb is more or less spherical, across, with a dark brown outer tunic. Five or six leaves emerge from the bulb, long and across. The margins of the leaves are wavy. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

is a densely packed raceme with 30–50 individual flowers. The raceme is topped by a head or "coma" formed from 13 to 20 bracts about long. The somewhat sweetly scented flowers have six yellowish green

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s, long by wide. The ovary is greenish yellow. The seeds are glossy and black. It flowers in summer and early autumn (January to March in its native South Africa).

Taxonomy

''Eucomis amaryllidifolia'' was first described by

John Gilbert Baker John Gilbert Baker (13 January 1834 – 16 August 1920) was an English botanist. His son was the botanist Edmund Gilbert Baker (1864–1949). Biography Baker was born in Guisborough in North Yorkshire, the son of John and Mary (née Gilbert ...

in 1878. He referred to the leaves as "''Amaryllis''-like" in contrast with the broader leaves of ''E. undulata'' (now a synonym of '' E. autumnalis''), which it otherwise resembled. In 1972, William Frederick Reyneke considered the species to be merely a variety of ''E. autumnalis'', but then, in 1980, elevated it to a subspecies, as ''E. autumnalis'' subsp. ''amaryllidifolia''. However, later research showed that ''E. amaryllidifolia'' was one of the smaller diploid species of ''

Eucomis ''Eucomis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, native to southern Africa. Most species of this genus are commonly referred to as pineapple flowers or pineapple lilies. They are bulbous perennials wit ...

'', with 2''n'' = 2''x'' = 30, whereas ''E. autumnalis'' was one of the larger

tetraploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contains ...

species, with 2''n'' = 4''x'' = 60. Accordingly, ''E. amaryllidifolia'' is now accepted as a full species.

Distribution and habitat

''Eucomis amaryllidifolia'' is native to the

of South Africa, and in particular the Eastern Cape, possibly extending into the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

. It grows on rocky slopes and ridges, in full sun.

Cultivation

''Eucomis amaryllidifolia'' was not in general cultivation . In the

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Kirstenbosch is an important botanical garden nestled at the eastern foot of Table Mountain in Cape Town. The garden is one of 10 National Botanical Gardens covering five of South Africa's six different biomes and administered by the South Af ...

, it is grown in pots in an open, slightly acid medium. The pots are placed in a sunny position and watered well in summer, but kept completely dry in winter. A high potash fertilizer is used. The bulbs are considered to be hardy down to . Propagation is by seed, bulb slicing, leaf cuttings and

tissue culture Tissue culture is the growth of tissues or cells in an artificial medium separate from the parent organism. This technique is also called micropropagation. This is typically facilitated via use of a liquid, semi-solid, or solid growth medium, su ...

. Mealybugs can be a significant pest.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q50840577 Scilloideae Flora of the Cape Provinces Plants described in 1878 Taxa named by John Gilbert Baker