Clivia mirabilis

Mary Sue Ittner msittner@mcn.org
Wed, 01 Oct 2003 07:27:48 PDT
Dear Jim,

I know my posts are so long that I imagine a lot of people give up before 
they read the whole thing, but in my first post I mentioned that there was 
a talk just on this Clivia.
Here is what I said:

"After her talk, John Rourke told the story of the amazing find of Clivia 
mirabilis in the Western Cape. It was found in screes and cliffs below a 
rock plateau near Nieuwoudtville in a semi-desert area in an area with only 
400 mm of rainfall, relentless sun. It has leathery leaves and curved 
pendulous orange flowers with green tips, red pedicels, and red ovaries. It 
takes up almost every drop of water during the wet season and is almost 
like a succulent. He speculated the pollinators were attracted to the red 
pedicels and ovaries. These Clivias offer hope for breeding Clivias that 
can be grown in the sun. The seeds ripen very rapidly. I was pleased to 
hear that the plants are protected in a reserve, but there has been an 
attempt to get seed to growers so plant collectors will be less tempted to 
dig them from the wild. (The plant habitat makes this a bit difficult 
however.) And the seed is growing so perhaps one day this newly discovered 
genus will be better known."

Mary Sue


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