''Lachenalia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

bulb In botany, a bulb is a short underground stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

ous

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

s in the family

Asparagaceae Asparagaceae (), known as the asparagus family, is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. The family name is based on the edible garden asparagus, '' Asparagus officinalis''. This family includes both ...

, subfamily

Scilloideae Scilloideae (named after the genus ''Scilla'', "squill") is a subfamily of bulbous plants within the family ''Asparagaceae''. Scilloideae is sometimes treated as a separate family Hyacinthaceae, named after the genus ''Hyacinth (plant), Hyacinthus ...

, which are usually found in

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Most of them have a dormancy period, but new

root In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...

s will always grow every year. ''Lachenalia'' is named after the Swiss botanist Werner de Lachenal (1736-1800). Species are sometimes known as Cape cowslip, though they are not even somewhat related to the true cowslip ''

Primula veris ''Primula veris'', the cowslip, common cowslip, or cowslip primrose (syn. ''Primula officinalis'' John Hill (author), ), is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the Primula vulgaris, primrose family (biology), family Primulaceae. The specie ...

''.

Species

, the ''Plants of the World Online'' accepted 136 species:Search for "Lachenalia", *'' Lachenalia alba'' W.F.Barker ex G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia algoensis'' Schönland *'' Lachenalia aloides'' (L.f.) Engl. *'' Lachenalia ameliae'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia angelica'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia anguinea'' Sweet *'' Lachenalia arbuthnotiae'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia attenuata'' W.F.Barker ex G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia aurioliae'' G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia bachmannii'' Baker *'' Lachenalia barkeriana'' U.Müll.-Doblies *'' Lachenalia bolusii'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia bowkeri'' Baker *'' Lachenalia buchubergensis'' Dinter *'' Lachenalia bulbifera'' (Cirillo) Engl. *'' Lachenalia campanulata'' Baker *'' Lachenalia capensis'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia carnosa'' Baker *'' Lachenalia cernua'' G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia comptonii'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia concordiana'' Schltr. ex W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia congesta'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia contaminata'' Aiton *'' Lachenalia convallarioides'' Baker *'' Lachenalia corymbosa'' (L.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Lachenalia dasybotrya'' Diels *'' Lachenalia dehoopensis'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia doleritica'' G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia duncanii'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia elegans'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia ensifolia'' (Thunb.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Lachenalia fistulosa'' Baker *'' Lachenalia flava'' Andrews *'' Lachenalia framesii'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia giessii'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia glaucophylla'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia haarlemensis'' Fourc. *'' Lachenalia hirta'' (Thunb.) Thunb. *'' Lachenalia inconspicua'' G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia isopetala'' Jacq. *'' Lachenalia juncifolia'' Baker *'' Lachenalia karooica'' W.F.Barker ex G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia klinghardtiana'' Dinter *'' Lachenalia kliprandensis'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia lactosa'' G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia latimerae'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia leipoldtii'' G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia leomontana'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia liliiflora'' Jacq. *'' Lachenalia longibracteata'' E.Phillips *'' Lachenalia longituba'' (A.M.van der Merwe) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Lachenalia lutea'' G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia luteola'' Jacq. *'' Lachenalia lutzeyeri'' G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia macgregoriorum'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia margaretae'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia marginata'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia marlothii'' W.F.Barker ex G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia martiniae'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia mathewsii'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia maughanii'' (W.F.Barker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Lachenalia maximiliani'' Schltr. ex W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia mediana'' Jacq. *'' Lachenalia minima'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia moniliformis'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia montana'' Schltr. ex W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia multifolia'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia mutabilis'' Lodd. ex Sweet *'' Lachenalia namaquensis'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia namibiensis'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia nardousbergensis'' G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia neilii'' W.F.Barker ex G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia nervosa'' Ker Gawl. *'' Lachenalia nutans'' G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia obscura'' Schltr. ex G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia orchioides'' (L.) Aiton *'' Lachenalia orthopetala'' Jacq. *'' Lachenalia pallida'' Aiton *'' Lachenalia patula'' Jacq. *'' Lachenalia paucifolia'' (W.F.Barker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Lachenalia pearsonii'' (R.Glover) W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia peersii'' Marloth ex W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia perryae'' G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia physocaulos'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia polyphylla'' Baker *'' Lachenalia polypodantha'' Schltr. ex W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia punctata'' Jacq. *'' Lachenalia purpureocaerulea'' Jacq. *'' Lachenalia pusilla'' Jacq. *'' Lachenalia quadricolor'' Jacq. *'' Lachenalia reflexa'' Thunb. *'' Lachenalia rosea'' Andrews *'' Lachenalia salteri'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia sargeantii'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia schelpei'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia schlechteri'' Baker *'' Lachenalia sessiliflora'' Andrews *'' Lachenalia splendida'' Diels *'' Lachenalia stayneri'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia thomasiae'' W.F.Barker ex G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia trichophylla'' Baker *'' Lachenalia undulata'' Masson ex Baker *'' Lachenalia unifolia'' Jacq. *'' Lachenalia valeriae'' G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia variegata'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia ventricosa'' Schltr. ex W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia verticillata'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia violacea'' Jacq. *'' Lachenalia viridiflora'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia whitehillensis'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia wrightii'' Baker *'' Lachenalia xerophila'' Schltr. ex G.D.Duncan *'' Lachenalia youngii'' Baker in W.H.Harvey & auct. suc. (eds.) *'' Lachenalia zebrina'' W.F.Barker *'' Lachenalia zeyheri'' Baker In addition, '' Lachenalia nordenstamii'' W.F.Barker was listed as "threatened" in the 2006 IUCN Red List, but the name was not accepted by the ''World Checklist of Selected Plant Families''.

Cultivation

Several species are cultivated as garden plants. The following have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

. *''Lachenalia'' 'Rupert' *''Lachenalia bulbifera'' 'George' *''Lachenalia contaminata'' *''Lachenalia corymbosa'' *''Lachenalia flava'' *''Lachenalia pustulata'' *''Lachenalia quadricolor'' *''Lachenalia vanzyliae'' *''Lachenalia viridiflora''

Gallery

Image:Lachenalia aloides KirstenboschBotGard09292010A.jpg, '' Lachenalia aloides'', Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden Image:Lachenalia bulbifera, habitus, Kirstenbosch NBT.jpg, '' Lachenalia bulbifera'', Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden Image:Lachenalia corymbosa at Harlow Carr.jpg, '' Lachenalia corymbosa'', Harlow Carr Image:Lachenalia liliflora1a.UME.jpg, '' Lachenalia liliflora'' Image:Polyxena longituba1.jpg, '' Lachenalia longituba'' Image:Lachenalia maughanii00.jpg, '' Lachenalia maughanii'', Nieuwoudtville, South Africa Image:Lachenalia orchioides (hyacinthaceae).JPG, '' Lachenalia orchioides'' Image:Lachenalia pustulata 1.jpg, '' Lachenalia pustulata'' Image:Lachenalia aloides var. quadricolor (3).jpg, '' Lachenalia quadricolor'' Image:Lachenalia zeyheri KirstenboschBotGard09292010A.JPG, '' Lachenalia zeyheri'', Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden

References

Bibliography

* * * * * *

External links

Pacific Bulb Society: ''Lachenalia''
{{Authority control Asparagaceae genera Flora of Southern Africa