Description
This can almost be thought of as a stocky and floriferous version of Pancratium canariense though it has broader, glaucous leaves and bigger clusters of larger flowers. It also has much larger seeds than that species.
It grows through the winter and spring, becoming briefly dormant in summer and then it flowers from bare earth, in September when autumn rains reawaken it. The blooms are large, pure white and fragrant. And it is frankly hard to see where the “foetid” name comes from, as it isn’t foetid, it is sweetly scented, though, admittedly, with a musky overtone in very old flowers. Lovely glaucous, blue-green foliage follows rapidly after the flowers.
For cultivation, this likes a very well-drained compost, with not too much organic matter, free drainage however is the single most important factor as this is a dry land species used to rocky and sandy habitats in dry terrain. It likes good air circulation in winter and low humidity, with not too much water when the temperatures and light levels are low and the plant is just ticking over. Having said all of this, it is not a difficult or temperamental species. It needs really to be frost-free, but it will apparently take a very light (and transient) frosting without damage.
Pancratium foetidum grows across the southern shores of the Mediterranean from Morocco in the west as far as Libya in the east. It is also newly recognised (2001) in Malta, though records for a Pancratium in Malta (wrongly attributed to P. illyricum) go back as far as 1831, which is before P. foetidum was even scientifically named. Pancratium foetidum as a species was described 1874 by Nicolas Auguste Pomel).
First offered by us July 2020.
