Scadoxus multiflorus ssp. katherinae

"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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