[pbs] Cyrtanthus epiphyticus
John Grimshaw
j.grimshaw at virgin.net
Sun Aug 6 03:45:47 EDT 2006
I've grown Cyrtanthus epiphyticus for some time, from a collection made in
South Africa by Panayoti Kelaidis in the 90s, and I've also seen it in the
wild growing in the turf (not up a tree!) at Naude's Nek and elsewhere in
the Drakensberg. In my experience the corolla lobes flare outwards, as in
the photographs by Mary Sue, but not Bill Dyke's. I would describe the
colour as orange-red.
I find that the different bulbs in the pot flower at different times during
the summer, but in my experience it is a summer-growing, summer-flowering
plant. I dry off the pot as the plants go dormant in autumn and keep it cool
& dry all winter, usually resurrecting it in April, with repotting every 2-3
years. The bulbs don't seem to increase vegetatively. I've not yet risked a
bulb outside, but most of its congeners in the wild are hardy here so I
ought to be a bit bolder.
John Grimshaw
Dr John M. Grimshaw
Sycamore Cottage
Colesbourne
Nr Cheltenham
Gloucestershire GL53 9NP
Website: www.colesbournegardens.org.uk
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mary Sue Ittner" <msittner at mcn.org>
To: <pbs at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sunday, August 06, 2006 1:36 AM
Subject: [pbs] Cyrtanthus epiphyticus
> Blooming now from BX seed offered by Ernie O'Bryne in January 2004 is
> Cyrtanthus epiphyticus. My flowers don't look like the ones that are
> pictured on the wiki from Bill Dijk, but they do match the description in
> the Pooley books of this species. Any comments from anyone about this
> species?
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