Gethyllis sp. in bloom (Amaryllidaceae)
I walked into my living room today and noticed a sweet, familiar scent. My Gethyllis sp. is in bloom.
Gethyllis is a genus of (mostly) winter-growing bulbs from southern Africa. They flower in mid-summer, single flowers cracking through concrete-like soil in habitat. After pollination the flower withers. A few weeks later, just before fall rains start, fragrant and tasty fruits emerge from the ground. When the rains begin in earnest, a narrow tunic enclosing numerous thin, often curly leaves emerges, to grow for the winter. When summer arrives the leaves die and the plant goes dormant. You can see last year's leaves in the photo.
This plant was collected years ago by John Lavranos. It grows reliably every winter for me, but only blooms about one year out of four. One year the bulb divided itself into six, and I distributed them among bulb enthusiasts in California.
Unfortunately the plant is not self-fertile. I have tried using current year's pollen, as well as frozen pollen from previous flowerings.
The flower emerges to 7" / 17.5cm from the soil level. Petals are recurved, but 2" / 5cm long each. It is growing in a standard 1 gallon black plastic nursery container, in local clay soil. I summer it, dry, in a bright window in my living room. When nights definitely cool in fall, or when it starts growing, I put it outside and keep it moist to wet all winter. It is not bothered by our overnight frosts to the upper teens F / -8C.
I think it may have been triggered to flower by monsoon weather, which arrived here last week. A thunderstorm blew over my house early last evening, but only dropped enough rain to coat the truck windows with a thin layer of mud.
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