The Hyacynth Page
Hyacinthaceae

Left: Bowiea volubilis is often grown as a curiousity and is extememly tolerant of cultural conditions. It is easy to grow a 10 in or larger bulb. Plant the bulb on the surface of well-drained soil. In the interests of sanity, plant the bulb by or under a climbing frame and encourage the growing shoot to wind around it, taking great care as it is quite brittle. Alternatively, grow in a hanging basket and allow the stem to hang down. Water weekly while in growth and fertilise with high nitrogen plant food to encourage the bulb to fatten up. Withdraw water when the annual growth starts to die back, usually in the Autumn. Cut off the dead stem when it has browned, wait a few weeks, then water occasionally until a new growth appears.
Despite the common names, all parts are poisonous.

Dubenya aurea  Lindley 1813
has broad prostrate leaves with some longitudinal striation and yellow flowers.
 
Left: Dubenya aurea var. coccinea  Marloth 1922
has red flowers.
 
Native to the Roggeveld of South Africa.

Daubenya marginata Manning & van der Merwe 2002
Syn. Massonia marginata Willdenow 1843
Massonia marginata has broad prostrate leaves with prominent longitudianl grooves. The red flower cluster in the middle of the two leaves has prominent orange stamens.
 
Native to clay soils in the Roggeveld plateau in the Eastern Cape and to the Northwestern Karoo.

Left: Lachenalia aloides Engler - a popular, colourful species from the South African Cape distributed as far North as Worcester. The leaves are usually marked with purple blotches. Several varieties have been described. This species has been used in hybridisation.

Left: Lachenalia arbuthnotiae  WF Barker - native to the Cape flats, but less common than formerly. Leaves are marked with purple spots. The sweetly-scented, yellow flowers have greenish tips to their petals.

Left: Lachenalia contaminata  Aiton (f Hyacinth, Groenviooltjie) - the numerous grass-like leaves with channelled upper surfaces distinguish it from the similar L. bachmannii which has only two leaves. This species is widespread throughout the South-Western Cape.

Left: Lachenalia latimerae  WF Barker

Left: Lachenalia longebracteata  Phillips

Left: Lachenalia mathewsii  WF Barker

Left: Lachenalia orchioides  Aiton

Left: Labelled as Lachenalia orthopetala  Jacquin   which should have grass-like leaves and upward-facing white flowers with magenta markings or stripe,
but probably a magenta form of the normally-red L. bulbifera  Engler. or a hybrid.

Left: Lachenalia pustulata  Jacquin - a plant of the South-Western Cape, flowering in late Summer to early Autumn. The lanceolate leaves may be smooth or pustulate as the species name implies. The bell-shaped flowers in shades of cream, pink or blue are carried on long pedicels. Anthers are exserted.

Left: Lachenalia rosea  Andrews - a species from the Cape Peninsula and further North. The flowers vary somewhat in colour, but typically as shown.

Left: Lachenalia unicolor  Jacquin - is a plant of the Bokkeveld Mountains of South Africa, flowering in early Autumn. The inflorescence is typically a spike of many tubular brightly coloured flowers. The flowers on long pedicels may be cream, and shades of pink to purple and blue with green or purple markings. Anthers are exserted.

Left: Lachenalia viridiflora  WF Barker - a rare species from a very limited range on the Western Cape, but fairly common in cultivation.

Ledebouria petiolata  Manning & Goldblatt 2004 (Little White Soldiers)
Syn. Drimiopsis maculata Lindley & Paxton 1851

The oval, basal leaves are generally marked with dark purplish spots, but in this clone the spots are hardly noticable. After flowering, leaves with long petioles are produced. The naked bulbs can grow to a diameter of 2 in.
 
Native to south-eastern Africa where it grows on forest floors and along river banks, indicating a preference for moist shady conditions.

Ledebouria revoluta  Jessop 1970  Syn. Scilla lanceaefolia Baker 1870
A small (2 inch) clumping bulb. The conical purplish bulbs with peeling papery skin, grow on the surface of the soil and produce a rosette of lanceolate leaves often mottled with silver and purple. The inflorescence is a raceme of many small greenish-purple flowers with recurved petals and purple stamens and pedicels, produced during the Summer.
 
Native to Southern Africa and India.

Ledebouria socialis  Jessop 1970 (Silver Squill) Syn. Scilla violacea Hutchinson 1932
A small (1 inch), clumping bulb that is not uncommon in collections of succulent plants. The conical purplish bulbs with peeling papery skin, grow on the surface of the soil and produce a rosette of lanceolate leaves often mottled with purple markings. The inflorescence is a raceme of many small greenish-white bell-shaped flowers with purple stamens, produced during the Summer.
 
Native to Summer rainfall areas of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Only half-hardy outside in the Great British Winter. Poisonous if ingested.

Massonia bifolia - see below under Whiteheadia.

Massonia depressa is noteworthy for the yeasty perfume of its flowers, which are pollinated by gerbils and other rodents, attracted to a copious supply of viscous nectar. The large flat leaves may be spotted or have reddened leaf margins.
 
It is native to winter rainfall regions of the South African Cape and Namaqualand, a guide for watering in cultivation.
 
Photographed in the Alpine House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Massonia echinata from winter rainfall regions of the South African Cape has sweetly scented flowers, with shorter filaments that M. pustulata. The leaves may be smooth, pustulate or echinate.

Massonia marginata - see above under Daubenya.

Massonia pustulata is a striking species with rose-scented, white to pink shaving brush flowers of long stamen filaments, offset by pustulate green to purple or purple-streaked leaves. Most species of Massonia are pollinated by bees and butterflies.
 
Found in sandy soils of the Western Cape, Namaqualand and the Karoo. The plants are drought tolerant and said to be cold hardy in dry conditions.

Massonia pygmaea  
The upper surface of the large green leaves are furnished with pustules and hairs. The inflorescence is a white shaving brush of stamens with grey anthers.
 
Native to high mountains of the Cedarberg and Kamiesberg.

Massonia bifolia   Syn. Whiteheadia bifolia, Eucomis bifolia
has a very different inflorescence to other species of Massonia, but may appeal to those attracted to the unusual. The inflorescence has a sour perfume and is produced in the middle of two large eliptical leaves. The robust cluster of green flowers within prominent green bracts has a sculpted appearance.
 
This is a plant from arid winter rainfall areas of Southern Namibia, Namaqualand and the Western Cape, growing in crevices which provide a protective microclimate and conserve moisture. It is reported to be rodent-pollinated.

Ornithogalum dubium (Snake Flower)
A perrennial bulb from the South-Western Cape Province of South Africa. The 4 in lanceolate leaves have a ciliate margin. The inflorescence in early Spring is a spheroidal raceme of up to 25 orange, red, yellow or rarely white flowers, often with a brownish or greenish center. This is one of the few species in this genus with brightly coloured flowers.

Not frost hardy but excellent for a cold alpine house although bulbs have a habit of becoming dormant. Needs a dry period after flowering. Cut flowers are long-lived in a vase. All parts are poisonous.

Ornithogalum lanceolatum (Star of Bethlehem) is a small plant from Palestine. Clustered white flowers are hidden among tapering green leaves. Petals may have fine green stripes on their inner surface and there is a wide band on the outer three petals.
 
The same common name is applied to several dissimilar species. Not frost hardy but excellent for a cold alpine house.

Scilla madeirensis  Menezes 1926 (Madeira Squill)
Syn: Autonoe madeirensis
 
The large bulbs (right) produce a dense raceme of lilac-blue flowers up to 2 ft tall, in late Summer or Autumn. The fleshy, pointed leaves persist through the Winter into the following Spring. Native to rocky soils of the island of Madeira and not at all hardy.

Scilla peruviana  Linnaeus 1753 (Cuban Lily, Portuguese Squill)
Syn: Oncostema peruviana
Named for: a ship, The Peru
 
This large bulb is native to Spain and the central Mediterranean and is hardy in a sunny, well drained position or cold frame. The large hemisperical lilac flower makes a striking feature in the mid-Spring.
 
Right: Scilla peruviana var. gattefossei Maire 1939 - a striking royal blue cultivar with contrasting yellow stamens.

Lower left: Scilla peruviana cv. Algerian Cream one of several white or cream varieties.

Urginea maritima  Baker 1873  Syn. Drimia maritima Stearn. 1978 (Sea Onion)
The large bulbs with papery tunics send up a tall inflorescence with many small white flowers along its length, usually during late Summer. The large glaucous green leaves generally appear after flowering, forming a tight cluster that dies back before the next flowering. A varieiy 'rubra' with reddish flowers is usually found further inland than the more common white-flowered form.
 
Native to coastal regions of the Mediterranean and widely cultivated. The bulbs should be considered poisonous although they have been used medicinally as a heart stimulant and diuretic. The juice may blister the skin.

Veltheimia bracteata  Harvey ex Baker 1870  Syn. V. viridifolia Jacquin 1797
The large bulbs develop papery outer tunics of old, dried scales. They produce a dense 2 ft raceme of many tubular pink flowers, speckled to a variable extent with yellow green towards their tips and with no discernable perfume, in late Winter and Spring and occasionally at other times. The flowers appear to be self fertile and even indoors are followed by large three-winged papery capsules containing two black seeds per locule. The glossy lanceolate leaves, with undulate margins and a central channel, persist through the year or may be deciduous in adverse conditions.
 
Native to forests and coastal scrub of the Eastern South African Cape where it attracts sunbirds.
 
Cultivation is easy as these bulbs are amazingly tolerant and flower reliably at least once a year. The bulbs should be planted on the surface of the soil with just the base and roots buried and they will clump up with time. Water throughout the year with a little fertiliser after the Spring flowering to plump up the bulbs. I usually reduce watering in late Summer and Autumn, but even so the leaves are persistent.
 
Veltheimia bracteata is the most common species in cultivation as it will flower in light shade. Various selected cultivars may be seen, including this pale yellow form.

Veltheimia capensis  De Candolle 1807
The large bulbs produce a dense raceme of tubular pink flowers up to 2 ft tall, in Autumn and early Winter, often before the appearance of the leaves. The blue-green lanceolate leaves, with undulate margins and a central channel are deciduous. They become greener and laxer when grown in light shade, as was this plant.
 
Native to Western South African and Namibia. Needs full sun to flower well. Water should be withdrawn during the Summer resting period.