Description
(Drimia fugax, Anthericum fugax).
In contrast to our other species, this one is comparatively dwarf, reaching a maximum of 20-30cm high. It is a very early-flowering, autumnal species, often beginning to start its flowering cycle in August, in the peak of normal “bulb dormancy season” when two or three spikes (per bulb) appear, with a week or more between the emergence of each spike. The buds open late in the afternoon to reveal small, white flowers, lightly marked on the exterior with a small amount of purple-brown, usually as a central vein on each petal. Sometimes this vein can be reduced to a single blotch at the petal tip or, more rarely, at the base. Inside the flower, the anthers are bright yellow. The flower spikes are one-sided, in the manner of, for example, Dipcadi serotinum. Flowering can incidentally, continue until as late as October.
The bulbs are small and white and they are frequently recorded as growing very shallowly in the soil. Narrow blue-green leaves appear in semi-erect tufts after the flowers and in the wild this would correspond with the falling of the first autumn rains. The leaves are not undulate, waved or wavy on the edges in any way, they are very straight-edged and narrow as well as being quite small and unobtrusive. This is all unusual for Urginea and those already familiar with the genus would barely recognise them as Urginea.
Native to parts of North Africa (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia), Southern Corsica and found also in both Sardinia and Menorca. The species may perhaps grow in other southern Mediterranean regions as it is dwarf, inconspicuous and somewhat autumnal, so it might be expected to be less frequently observed or reported.
In cultivation this grows well in pots under frost-free or alpine glass in a well-drained, loam-based, soil or compost and the small bulbs can be planted shallowly and crammed close together for good effect. I have also seem it grown in succulent collections, grown in the same way as some cacti.
Introduced to our lists August 2021
