Description
Rhodophiala bifida granatiflora was at one time considered to simply be a larger form of Rhodophiala bifida however it was formally named Rhodophiala bifida ssp. granatiflora (E.Holmb.) Ravenna, in 1970. The name is based on Holmberg’s 1903 species Hippeastrum granatiflorum. ‘Plants of the World Online’ now considers it to be simply a synonym of Rhodophiala bifida. Whilst the botanical differences are admittedly slight and may not stand the fashions of botanical naming, it has to be said that horticulturally this form stands out strongly amongst others as being very distinct.
Initially when Dr. O’Farrell went out and actually found the plant in the wild he did find plain bifida in the same area of Uruguay as the original discovery of granatiflora (these we are offering this occurrence of bifida as our Pan de Azucar) . He regarded granatiflora is distinct from these, though he stated that it was very rare in the wild there, with only a few individuals remaining. It is thus more than possible that the synonymy decided above is based on herbarium material which in turn were wrongly identified and not in fact granatiflora at all. Other locations for granatiflora are known are said to be both in Brazil and in Argentina. Ours however are raised from Dr. O’Farrell’s original introduction of seed and so they are 100% confirmed and true. The original wild locality is given as rocky hillsides (with rare occurrences in “woods”) on slightly acid soil from the type locality which is in Maldonado province, Uruguay.
It is reputed to prefer warmer conditions than the other forms, based, I assume, on the geography of some of its wild stations at least one of which is in Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil far towards the north of the range of the species . If you believe this then there is certainly no harm in growing it frost-free certainly until its true hardiness is tested or the plant is more freely available to be risked outside. Ours however are grown on exactly the same cycle and under the same conditions as all of our other forms, including the Pan de Azucar strain with which it grows in the wild.
Though Ravenna says that it has a “lower stature” we find this to be incorrect and in cultivation this is the largest of the forms that we offer. It has good-sized flowers which have blunt-tipped petals (these taper gradually in most other forms of R. bifida). The plant is large in all of its parts; bulbs, flowering stem height, stem thickness and foliage. The petals have delightfully waved edges to the petals and the usual tiny, hairy appendage on the tips of the three outermost petals. Unfortunately the name is being applied in the USA to forms which although they have the correct colour to be this form, are totally different with respect to size and the essential, diagnostic broad shape of the petals. Ours are true and are raised from Dr. O’Farrell’s seed introductions.
The form, cultivar or subspecies (take your choice) is named for the Pomegranate, Punica granatum, in allusion to the colour of the flowers, which the two plants share, a deep orange-red shade. The Pomegranate colour is said to develop best in full sun. I cannot confirm this though we have never grown it in shade to see the effect that shade has!
We do our best on these to send what we think are flowering sized bulbs but like many Amaryllidaceae, this can refuse to flower, after disturbance, in its first year after planting. Thus a slightly smaller, non-flowering sized bulb will grow and establish and then flower in the same year as a flowering-sized one which has sulked for a year.
