South Africa geophytic plants

The Lyon Botanical Garden owns more than 200 taxons that belong to 10 botanical families : Hyacinthaceae, Colchicaeae, Liliaceae, Iridaceae, Amaryllidaceae, Hypoxidaceae, Asphodelaceae, Agapanthaceae and Haemodoraceae. most of these plants are exposed only during their blooming period.

Geissorhiza inaequalis
L. Bolus

Status and conservation :

In our collection 20 taxons have a protection status (IUCN status) :

4 of them are vulnerable : Brunsvigia litoralis, Geissorhiza eurystigma, Gladiolus carmineus and Ixia viridiflora
11 are rare : Cyrtanthus herrei, Lachenalia concordiana, Lachenalia kliprandensis, Lachenalia martinae, Lachenalia maximiliani, Lachenalia thomasiae, Babiana cedarbergensis, Geissorhiza inaequalis, Gladiolus carmineus, Hesperantha purpurea, Sparaxis grandiflora.
5 are critically endangered : Lachenalia mathewsii, Lachenalia minima, Lachenalia purpureocoerulea, Lachenalia viridiflora, Moraea aristata.

Expositions take place in the Dutch greenhouse in the open-air garden. This greenhouse is divided in two parts : one for the carnivorous plants, the other for succulent plants and bulbs from South Africa. This part is closed to the public but you can see it if you take one of our guided tours. A showcase allow us to expose these little wonders.

In bloom in February :

The flowering period starts early in the year (February) with winter bulbs such as the genus Androcymbium (Colchicaeae) that have a prolonged flowering period, Lachenalia viridiflora (Iridaceae) with its unforgettable turquoise blue flowers or Massonia depressa (Hyacinthaceae) whose leaves strangely reminds us water lilies’.

Lachenalia aloides
(L.f.) Engl.

In bloom in March-April :

The abundance of flowering species during these months will surely mark visitors’ mind. The Lachenalias (Hyancinthaceae) cover the whole colour spectrum thanks to their diversity (110 species) : Lachenalia viridiflora (green blue), Lachenalia aloides (orange) with its white or yellow subspecies… we also cultivate Lachenalia rosea, Lachenalia violacea, Lachenalia unicolor, Lachenalia youngii…

The genus Albuca is close to Ornithogalum but has rising tepals – intermediate organs between sepals and petals – this plant is also present in our collection. You can admire the strange Albuca spiralis with its curly leaves that are surely the result of an adaptation to the dryness, or the 2m giant : Albuca clanwilliamgloriana.
We also cultivate Albuca altissima, Albuca aurea, Albuca bainesii and Albuca viridiflora.

Babiana framesii
L. Bolus

The Babiana species are very spectacular in this period too, such as Babiana rubrocyanea with its bicolour petals or Babiana villosa with its surprising bright red.
We also grow Babiana plicata, Babiana curviscapa, Babiana framesii, Babiana nana, Babiana sambucina…

The Freesias – famous for their fragrant flowers – are in bloom at the same time. You can admire Freesia alba, which is naturalised in the south of France, Freesia corymbosa , which is less perfumed than Freesia alba but is yellow coloured, Freesia caryophyllacea, or Freesia refracta.

The sword lilies (Gladiolus sp) are of a great diversity in South Africa, with 950 species it is the most important genus in the Iridaceae family. Apart from the pure blue, all the colours are represented. You can admire Gladiolus tristis with its pale yellow flowers that exhale a fragrance in order to attract nocturnal butterflies, or Gladiolus huttonii with its elongated orange flowers, which are good characters for being pollinated by birds.
We also grow Gladiolus alatus, Gladiolus callianthus, Gladiolus carmineus, Gladiolus dalenii.

Gladiolus alatus
L.

In bloom in summer :

Summer is an "empty" period because many plants have a rest but you can see some hardy geophytic plants outdoor.

In the mediterranean part, we developed a zone where we test the hardiness of South African plants. In this place we cultivate Crocosmia x crocosmiflora, Agapanthus caulescens var. angustifolius, Eucomis bicolor and Hypoxis nitida, they are all hardy under our climate. Later you will find other bulbs we are evaluating.

In the botany school we cultivate Amaryllis belladona, which is hardy and has a beautiful flowering in autumn. You can see other bulbs in the different parts of the botanical garden. In the Big Greenhouses, Haemanthus albiflos blossoms in winter, and Aristea eckloni shows in spring beautiful blue flowers. In the cactus greenhouses (cold little greenhouses) the strange but toxic Boophone disticha grows with different Eucomis species and Veltheimia capensis.

Generalities :
South Africa has one of the richest bulbs flora in the world. The plants got very diversified particularly in the Cape region, which is characterised by a mediterranean climate (hot and dry summer following a rainy and temperate winter). The calling "geophytic plants from South Africa" gathers several botanical families : Hyancinthaceae, Colchicaceae, Liliaceae (these 3 families are often gathered in Liliaceae), Iridaceae, Amaryllidaceae, Hypoxidaceae, Oxalidaceae, Asphodelaceae and Agapanthaceae.

Geissorhiza splendidissima
Diels

The most important characteristic of all those plants concerns their vegetation cycle : it is an alternation of a rest phase (called "dormancy phase"), which is often in the form of a bulb, corm or rhizome, and a vegetative phase. The word "geophytic" comes from the greek word "ge" meaning ground, it indicates that the rest organs are buried in the ground. These plants got adapted to the mediterranean climate becoming dormant when the rain is getting rarer.

Except Oxalidaceae, all these plants are monocotyledons, easily identifiable with their 3 petals and 3 sepals flowers, and their leaves that often have parallel veins.
These plants with a generous and coloured blooming have an important ornamental value and some genera are very decorative in the gardens : Dierama sp., Crocosmia sp., Ixia sp., Sparaxis sp. , … or in bunches of flowers : Ornithogalum dubium, Freesia sp, Agapanthus sp…

Others are potentially edible and constituted an important food source for South African native people : Oxalis sp. Romulea rosea, Babiana dergei,…
Although they are toxic, the members of the Amaryllidaceae family have medicinal properties :Crinum macowanii, Boophone disticha, Gethyllis sp.Don’t forget Gethyllis afra, which have a perfumed fruit that people use to perfume their house.

Cares and culture :

Most of our South African bulbs are cultivated in pots. We use a draining acid substratum so we avoid any rotting risk. We stop watering the plants when they have an integral dormancy phase (complete disappearing of the leaves).The hardy bulbs are well adapted to our clayey ground and we plant them at least at a 10 cm depth in order to protect them from the cold. Concerning the bulbs we want to test we rather put them in a rough sand in order to make the water flow around the bulb easier. The collection passes winter under an frost less tunnel. A heating cloth maintains a 4 to 5°C minimal temperature.

Last modified: 06/07/2006 05:56 PM