Interesting Plant: Albuca namaquensis
** Shop all things gardening on Amazon.com **
Discovered via Pinterest User, Isabell Mac
Interesting shapes always make for interesting plants, and this Albuca is no exception. These lovely curlicues would make a great accent plant in any pot or succulent planting.
Find/ Buy Albuca namaquensis | eBay
“Albuca is a genus of plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae.[1] Four genera – Battandiera, Coilonox, Stellarioides andTrimelopter – may be split off from Albuca. Most of the 100-140 species of bulbous plants in this genus are endemic to Southern Africa.[2] Only a few are commonly cultivated.
Leaves range in length from 3 in (8 cm) to 4 ft (1.2 m) and may be flat or keeled. They generally are fleshy and sappy. The juice is mucilaginous, giving the genus the plants the common name “slime lilies” in some areas.[2] The flowers of some species are scented, especially at night. They are borne in racemes, usually slender, but flat-topped in some species. Florets may be on stiff, or slender, nodding stalks.[2] Some of the smallest species have only one or two florets on a stalk, barely amounting to anything clearly resembling a raceme. In colour the flowers range from yellow to white, many species with a greenish or yellowish tinge. Most species also have a broad green, longitudinal band down the middle of each tepal. They have 6 tepals in a bell shape. The flowers generally have a characteristic shape resulting from the fact that the outer three tepals are free-standing and differ radically from the inner three that stand erect with thick, flap-like tips, effectively forming a fleshy tube. The fruiting capsule typically has many flattened or angular black seeds.” — Wikipedia
More information on Albuca namaquensis:
- Albuca on Wikipedia
- Albuca namaquensis Pacific Bulb Society
- Albuca namaquensis Images via Google Image Search
Previously in the Interesting Plant series:
- Hosta ‘Remember Me’
- Dahlia ‘Clair de Lune’
- Lovely silver-tinged fern on campus of Oberlin College, Ohio
- Tricolor Beech (Fagus sylvatica Purpurea Tricolor)
- Climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala petiolaris)
- Eremurus ‘Lemon Meringue’
- Lupine “Sunrise” (Lupinus hartwegii)
- Chinese Fringe Flower (Loropetalum chinense)
- Streptocarpus ‘Harlequin Blue’
- Nigella damascena (love-in-a-mist, ragged lady)
- Epiphyllum (Orchid Cactus)
- Sempervivum ‘Westerlin’
- Gladiolus ‘Kings Lynn’
- Hosta sieboldiana ‘Dorothy Benedict’
- Begonia “Escargot”
- Asparagus Pea (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus)
- Rosa banksiae (Lady Banks’ Rose)
- Primula ‘Victoriana Silver Laced Black’
- Oxalis versicolor
- Poached Egg Plant (Limnanthes douglasii)
- Parisian Carrots
- Fritillaria imperialis Rubra Maxima
- Clematis “Fascination”
- Swiss Chard “Bright Lights”
- Georgia Rattlesnake Melon
- Dianthus Barbathus “Green Ball” or “Green Trick”
- Coleus “Religious Radish”
- Black Forest Calla Lily
- Black Bamboo
Interesting Plant is a series from A Gardener’s Notebook blog and podcast that highlights the most interesting plants I find in my Internet and real-world travels — Douglas