As your info says it is difficult to come up with comparisons and differences within the two subspecies when one is unable to get the full picture but can only look at the material in ones own collection.
Certainly my 'Katherinae' plants have a pretty much evergreen stature and the foliage often takes on a rather block like venation .They always flower when in leaf but have not done so this year.
Most of the 'multiflorus' available are of commercial origin but I have managed to get a couple of plants of known wild source, and then one can really start to see the range of form between plants within the same subspecies. My 'multiflorus' are deciduous through the early part of the summer,one form coming up in the autumn.Those that have flowered seem to do so before the foliage appears. Though the heads are of good size they do seem to have less flowers than 'katherinae', maybe flower quantity will increase as the plant becomes older. Although one form is definitely on the bulbous side with regard to its storage organ one form produces good rhizome growth. The leaf growth on some of the 'multiflorus' I have lasts through the winter and then dies down in the spring. Material of one form from the Yemen is very dwarf in growth (unflowered as yet) and is in leaf for quite a short period of time. Maybe growth and amount of growth differs depending on what part of the world they are being expected to perform I doubt many would choose North Devon But I still manage to a few good results.
-----Original Message-----
From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of John Grimshaw
Sent: 31 July 2008 19:34
To: Pacific Bulb Society
Subject: Re: [pbs] Scadoxus multiflorus ssp. katherinae
This is quite a useful note in the Flora of Tropical East Africa (I. Nordal,
1982) account for S. multiflorus:
"S. multiflorus subsp. multiflorus is widespread and heterogeneous,
occuopying a wide range of habitats. Lack of discontinuity prevents further
delimitation. Only in the lowland rainforests of Sierra Leone to Gabon and
in the coastal areas from Swaziland to the East Cape is differentiation
sharp enough to justify separation of subsp. longitubus and subsp.
katherinae respectively. In East Africa [ i.e. Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania] the
typical savanna form is slender with flowers before the leaves, the mountain
form more robust with flowers and leaves contemporary. Intervening habitats
have intermediate forms, and the differences disappear in cultivation."
Unfortunately, as is so often the case with regional floras, taxa occurring
outside their limits are not described, and the only clue to the distinction
of subsp. multiflorus provided by Nordal here is the line "Perianth tube
usually less than 1.5 cm long; segments usually narrower than 2.5 mm."
The dimensions for the whole species, however, are: perianth tube 0.4-2.6 cm
long, segments 0.5-5 mm broad.
In the absence of comparable detailed descriptions of South African material
it is difficult to define subsp. katherinae but Elsa Pooley's Field Guide to
the Wild Flowers of Kwa-Zulu-natal has a go, although not providing strictly
comparable descriptions:
katharinae: Deciduous, robust, to 1.2 m. Coastal & swamp forest. Lamina c.
350 x 150 mm, pseudostem c. 600 mm, produced before flowers. Inflorescence
c. 200 mm diameter, stem c. 650 mm, flower tube c. 22 mm, pedicels c. 45 mm
multiflorus: Deciduous, robust, to 1 m. Light shade in bushveld, grassland,
coast to 2700 m. Lamina c. 450 x 410 mm, shiny, margins wavy, produced after
or with flowers, pseudostem and two reduced leaves speckled red-brown at the
base ; Inflorescence round, c. 150 (-260) mm diam, stem speckled towards
base; flower tube c. 15 mm, tepal lobes c. 30 mm.
So it seems that there are significant morphological differences, and also
in habitat. My impression from illustrations (I have not grown katherinae)
is that katherinae has a flatter and possibly less densely-flowered
inflorescence than the big round ball of multiflorus. Hopefully Jonathan
Hutchinson will be able to provide further comments and more details.
East African subsp. multiflorus can be essentially evergreen in the wild
(and in cultivation) - certainly in the Kilimanjaro forest I frequently saw
the new shoot spearing through the pseudostem of the previous year's shoot -
this would be more or less prostrate, though still green and active. But the
deciduosity of the foliage will depend very much on the site and available
moisture. I have seen it flowering (without leaves) in the dry savanna of
the Serengeti - where the big balls of flowers are a striking sight - and
have to say that I don't think the inflorescences were much, if any, smaller
than those from the forest.
John Grimshaw
Dr John M. Grimshaw
Sycamore Cottage
Colesbourne
Nr Cheltenham
Gloucestershire GL53 9NP
Tel. 01242 870567
----- Original Message -----
From: "Douglas Westfall" <eagle85@flash.net>
To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2008 6:40 PM
Subject: Re: [pbs] Scadoxus multiflorus ssp. katherinae
"Jim wrote: "I’ve often wondered what differences there are between S.
multiflorus multiflorus and S. multiflorus katherinae"
> From what I've read, it sounds like one is evergreen and one is
> deciduous."
Doug, what say you?
Basically, that is true. 75 to 80% of S. m. k hold their leaves and
pseudostem through the year until the "new" is ready to appear. At
that time, the old "dies" away and the "new" starts up. Shortly
thereafter, the "flower spike" appears. The "bulb" of this one is
somewhere between a bulb and a risome.
Scadoxus multiflorus forms more of a bulb, and it "buries" itself in
the planting medium. DO NOT "OVER WATER" this bulb as it will rot if
overwatered.
There is also "miniature"/"dwarf" form of S. multiflorus. It is also
more of a bulb, buries itself, and goes completely "dormant".
I hope this "non-scientific" answer helps to distinguish between the
two.
Doug
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