Description
(syn. Boophane guttata, Crossyne guttata)
The flower head is about 20 cm in diameter and made up of up to 200 small flowers in a 3D cartwheel. Individual flowers are deep beetroot-maroon with a white centre, the rigid pedicels which hold them are pink. Though individually small, the overall effect is spectacular.
The leaves are absent at flowering time, being made with the onset of autumn rains. They are smooth and tough with maroon spots on the underside (guttata means spotted) and a hairy, purple-red margin – hence “ciliaris“.
Easy in a well-drained, loam compost under frost-free glass in the UK, planted so that the tip of the bulb is just above soil level. This grows on a Mediterranean cycle, full sun when in growth from autumn to spring, dry in summer, watering in autumn. Flowering starts with the re-watering.
This has been included in a new genus, Crossyne, created to accommodate just two species. Horticulturally it is indistinguishable from Brunsvigia, in bulb or flower, the only difference being a fringe of leaf hairs in Crossyne!
Photo © Denis Tsang, with thanks.
