Leontochir was considered to be a tuberous genus in the Alstroemeriaceae family with one species from Chile. It has been re-classified as a Bomarea species by Ravenna in 2000, which was proven in later phylogenetic studies.
Bomarea ovallei (Phil.)Ravenna, syn. Leontochir ovallei, is endangered in the wild, where it is eaten by indigenous guanacos and introduced goats, especially the latter; plants survive by growing up through spiny shrubs and, as here, in rocky cliffs of the Coast Range, in a very arid climate subject to marine fogs. Photo 1 by Jane McGary taken in a canyon near Carrizal Bajo, Chile, in October 2002. Photos 2-5 were taken by Eugene Zielinski October 2011 in Parque Nacional Llanos de Challe. The last picture shows how the plants trail between and over the rocks on a steep talus slope. The vernacular name of the plant is Garra de leon 'lion's claw'.
The first two photos below were taken by Diane Whitehead in Chile. Chad Cox is growing this successfully in Elverta, California. The last two photos from him show it flowering April 2021. He reports he keeps it almost completely dry from around mid May until whenever shoots appear in the fall.
