#boophone

Boophone disticha

This wonderful bulb belongs to the Amaryllis Family, and it has a big distribution in southern Africa and northward into tropical Africa. It is left alone by grazing animals because it is poisonous, and its juice is sometimes used for making poison arrows. Its flowers are small, but there are many of them, and they change color from white to pink to red as they age. This species is also very attractive when not in flower, on account of its fan of wavy bluish leaves.

Boophone haemonthoides

Boophone disticha

Boophone is a small genus (of only two species) in the Amaryllis Family, native to Africa. Boophone disticha has a very large distribution, occurring in many countries, including South Africa (where our seeds came from). The upper photo shows a flowering bulb; the leaves are a little to the left at the bottom of the photo, alongside two rosettes of Bulbine latifolia. Unlike the bulbines, a Boophone has its leaves arranged in a fan. The middle photo shows a plant at the post-flowering stage, with lots of reddish developing seed capsules., and the lower photo is a close-up of one of these.

Boophone disticha

Boophone disticha is a bulb in the Amaryllis Family with a wide distribution in southern Africa, as well as northward into more tropical parts of the continent. Although in much of its range it occurs in areas of summer rainfall, it does grow in winter-rainfall areas as well, with the bulbs going dormant at whatever time of the year is appropriate for the site in question. Several years ago we planted multiple bulbs, and this year we are getting flowers for the first time. The flowers differ quite a bit from one to another, with varying hues of pink and varying sizes of the flower heads. The plant in the photo has a flower head shaped like a martini glass, while some of the others are more spherical. Although not very long-lasting, the flowers made a delightful show, and we hope that this will happen again next year. Note that the genus is sometimes spelled “Boophane”, but apparently Boophone is correct.