Clivia mirabilis
Mary Sue Ittner (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