Bowiea
| Bowiea volubilis | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Asparagaceae |
| Subfamily: | Scilloideae |
| Genus: | Bowiea Harv. ex Hook.f. |
| Species: | B. volubilis |
| Binomial name | |
| Bowiea volubilis Harv. ex Hook.f. | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Bowiea is a bulbous genus of perennial, succulent plants which thrive in dry and desert regions of eastern and southern Africa. It is native to a region stretching from Kenya to Cape Province.[1]
The plants have many overlapping scales, which form a tight, pale green, spherical bulb that grows to 8 in (20 cm) above the soil, sending up a twining fresh-green branched stem with few linear deciduous leaves. Dormant in winter, when the outer scales and many of the scale tips dry to a paper-like state, the plants burst to growth in late spring or summer, producing one or more very fast-growing stems that needs to be supported by a trellis or stake. The stems are covered with many leafless side-branches that may fall off. The small greenish-white flowers appear in spring. The genus is named after the nineteenth-century British plant collector at Kew, James Bowie.[2][3]
Cultivation The plants prefer gritty well-drained soil in full sun. Water rarely, except during the growing season. Propagate from seed.
Species
One species is recognized, with two subspecies[1]
- Bowiea volubilis (climbing-onion, sea onion[4])
- Bowiea volubilis subsp. gariepensis (van Jaarsv.) Bruyns - Namibia, Cape Province
- Bowiea volubilis subsp. volubilis - from Cape Province to Kenya
References
- 1 2 3 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
- ↑ Govaerts, R. (1996). World Checklist of Seed Plants 2(1, 2): 1-492. Continental Publishing, Deurne.
- ↑ Stedje, B. (1996). Hyacinthaceae. Flora of Tropical East Africa: 1-32.
- ↑ Top 10 Ugly Plants
External links
- Dressler, S.; Schmidt, M. & Zizka, G. (2014). [http://www.africanplants.senckenberg.de/root/index.php?submitForm=true&page_id=77&searchTextMenue=Bowiea+volubilis&filterRegionIDs[]=6&filterRegionIDs[]=1&filterRegionIDs[]=2&filterRegionIDs[]=3&filterRegionIDs[]=5 "Bowiea volubilis"]. African plants – a Photo Guide. Frankfurt/Main: Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg.
- Graf, Alfred Byrd (1986) Tropica: color cyclopedia of exotic plants and trees for warm-region horticulture–in cool climate the summer garden or sheltered indoors; 3rd ed. East Rutherford, N.J.: Roehrs Co
- Lord, Tony (2003) Flora : The Gardener's Bible : More than 20,000 garden plants from around the world. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-36435-5
- Botanica Sistematica