Description
(syn. Hieronymiella argentina)
The name Eustephia jujuyensis first appeared in the catalogue of Van Tubergen in the 1980s. The name, which was never validly published (a botanical nomen nudum) was a provisional one attributed to the Amaryllid enthusiast Arthington Worsely (1861-1944). My own notes (of unknown source) say that the original collection was made in Jujuy Province of Argentina (in the remote northwest of Argentina) by “Blossfeldt” but that he lost both his notes and the locality, on the trip. It was supposedly collected in 1936 however if the notes refer to Karl Blossfeldt (who is by far and away the most likely candidate), then he died in 1932.
The plant introduced and grown since as Eustephia jujuyensis is in fact Hieronymiella marginata. It has been brought through two generations of seed in cultivation, from a stock originally traceable to the brothers Hoog, of the firm of van Tubergen in the Netherlands.
It makes a good-sized bulb, covered with black skins. The bulbs make a long neck, which serves to show you how deep the bulbs need to go, and that is quite deep. With me, a narrow, deep pot is not really enough and small pots do not allow the plant to develop fully. However putting one bulb in a large pot risks problems from over-potting. It is best planted out in the greenhouse bed or put into open ground once heavy frosts have departed and then lifted in October/November once the leaves yellow. No matter what you do, this dies back in winter and it then needs a cool, dry winter rest to initiate flower buds. Cold but just short of freezing, is ideal. Bear in mind that though these are second generation bulbs raised in horticulture, in the wild this species grows at altitudes of around 3,000m (10,000ft), and so it is not used to warm winters, it needs a cold winter, simulating natural conditions when it is buried, dry, under snow, for many months.
A well-drained, fertile compost with good feeding when the plants are in growth is best, but I do repeat, this does not (with me) like pot cultivation. It is a survivor, it doesn’t die easily but neither does it thrive or flower well when grown in a small pot. Put it in a deep bed of fertile, well-drained loam-based soil, plant it deeply with the tip of the elongated neck just at ground level and then leave it alone to establish and find its own best depth. It is not difficult nor is it fussy.
It is best kept dry over winter, but give moisture during its growing season from about April-May. In spring, as the temperatures rise, then the flower spikes will start to appear with the developing leaves. The leaves are long, very narrow (strappy) and noticeably channelled. In June the flowers open, in clusters on red petioles (themselves made on red-purple stems) and are brilliant scarlet toning to orange-red at the tips, with age. The colour is both intense and magnificent.
