Eastern Cape Bulbs
Mary Sue Ittner (Fri, 14 Jan 2005 21:13:53 PST)

Dear All,

I ordered two CDs from Cameron McMaster recently: Wild Bulbs of the Eastern
Cape and Wild Flowers of the Amatola Mountains. I've really been enjoying
looking at Cameron's pictures. There are also word documents included
written by Cameron and Rhoda. Even though Cameron treated us to a couple of
slide shows when we visited him and Rhoda a number of years ago when they
were still living in the Eastern Cape, I don't think I really appreciated
how many bulbs there are in that part of South Africa. Since I live in
California I have focused more on the ones that I thought would be happiest
in my conditions, those from areas with wet winters and dry summers. The
majority of Cameron's pictures are habitat shots so it is almost like
taking a trip to see them in the wild (one of my favorite past times.)

Just a few highlights....
John Bryan has often talked about how wonderful it is to see Agapanthus in
the wild. This plant has probably been overused in California landscapes so
that it doesn't seem very special. Cameron's pictures show many different
color variations, even in the same species, and shows them in habitat in
grasslands, sometimes with low mountains in the background. In a couple of
pictures there is a mass of blue. I better appreciate John's vote for them
as a favorite blue.

There is a wonderfully bizarre Tulbaghia, T. ludwigiana, I've never seen
before. I'm not sure how in the world to describe it, but it is brown,
green, purple, and orange. I wonder what it smells like. I love the calf
sitting in the Ammocharis pasture. Apparently they must not be very tasty
as the flowers look untouched. There is an absolutely stunning picture of
Apodolirion macowanii with dew drops or rain drops; it glistens. He shows
Boophone disticha in so many different stages. Some of those bulbs have to
be very old as they are huge. There are many pictures of Brunsvigia
gregaria in bloom. It must be pollinated by butterflies as quite a number
of the pictures include different varieties of butterflies. In one close up
of the flowers on one bloom stalk I counted six butterflies. Looking at
those HUGE leaves I expect I'm going to have to wait a very long time if I
expect my plants to bloom.

Another amazing picture is Cyrtanthus breviflorus seed pods that are
covered with locust hoppers. There are quite a few picture of the bright
orange Cyrtanthus named after them, C. macmasteri including many habitat
shots. I just ordered some seed from them of C. smithae and I really hope
for success in germinating it. The pictures show these wonderfully curled
leaves and almost candy striped flowers.

There is a remarkable picture of a preying mantis climbing up a "ladder"
of yellow Kniphofia bruceae flowers and another of a field showing a mass
of Kniphofia linearifolia in flower in January. I really love where I live
and what I can grow, but wish I had the space and ample summer water to
grow some of those Kniphofias. The Eastern Cape has so many gorgeous species.

I had never heard of Brachystelma before and the leaves and flowers
certainly don't make you think bulb. B. cathcartensis is all hairy like a
Calochortus. There is a picture of this huge bulb, tuber,? I'm not sure
what it is. Does anyone grow Brachystelma in this group?

Oh dear, I haven't even gotten to Hyacinthaceae (14 genera), Orchidaceae
(many pictures), Iridaceae or Hypoxidaceae and this is getting too long so
I'll stop soon. I noted that the Gladiolus dalenii in his photos were
blooming in December and another lot in February. Here in another
hemisphere this year I had this species in bloom in December too. And it
was good to see a number of pictures of Moraea elliotii so I could finally
see how it compares to Moraea (Gynandriris setifolia).

There is another whole section just of the landscapes. I can see now why it
was so distressing for Cameron and Rhoda for us to visit at the wrong time
of the year when everything was brown and dry, just like California in late
summer. The Eastern Cape in his pictures is very beautiful. What an
ambitious project to photograph the wild bulbs in the Eastern Cape. This CD
reflects the love Cameron has for this area. I highly recommend it. It
would be nice to have a whole collection of CDs, one for each one of those
areas in the world with climates that are conducive to large populations of
bulbs.

Mary Sue