Cyrtanthus identity

Johannes Ulrich Urban johannes-ulrich-urban@t-online.de
Sat, 02 Jun 2018 14:03:49 PDT
Hello Leo,

Concerning your question about the donated bulbili: Yes, the two 
donations BX 440-2 and BX 412-26 are bulbils from the same plant. I got 
it from John Lavranos in 2014 and checked the label: it says Cyrthanthus 
spec. (or Strumaria) not collected by John Lavranos. I remember that he 
told me it was collected by somebody else but I would have put the 
collector on the label if John would have told me. So I assume he did 
not remember. The plants were pot grown and had impressive bulbs above 
ground with lots of bulbili, mine by now are almost the same size as his 
were. They have not flowered with him neither with me so the identity of 
this bulb could not be clarified up to now. I dropped the Strumaria info 
because I showed my plant to several knowledgeable friends who all 
agreed it is not Strumaria but Cyrtanthus by the looks of the whole 
plant. Sorry I cannot help any further...

The plant has been evergreen with me so far and requires water all year. 
If it does not get enough water the fleshy bulbs go soft and start to 
wrinkle and I have a feeling that this is not what they want. if they 
are watered again the bulb becomes firm again very quickly. Right now it 
looks as if it wants to lose most of its leaves if not all of them which 
would be a novelty. But it has moved with me to Portugal and has spent 
the winter outside in its pot in half shade. Maybe it adapts to a new 
growth rhythm here? When I got if from John in April 2014 it was in leaf.

I know that some Cyrtanthus only flower after fire. But fortunately my 
new garden has been spared from that natural event so far.... and I have 
not dared to let a controlled fire run over it so far. But on the other 
hand I cannot really imagine a very fleshy bulb sitting above ground 
being happy in a fire.


Uli

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