AVERY AVENUE'S CAPE HYACINTHSFor the third time in about 6 years I found a clump of bright orange bulbs that just appear, in different places, on pavements in the Barbarossa area of Constantia (between Doordrift, Spaanschemat and Kendal roads and the motorway). This time I took a photo of them and sent it to Graham Duncan, a Kirstenbosch horticulturist who is also a world authority on lachenalias (Cape hyacinths) and other bulbs.
He identified them as Lachenalia bulbifera – rooinaeltjie. Apparently they would have been naturally occurring in the sand plain fynbos that used to occur here before any houses were built, and the fact that they still come up after decades he says is a miracle!
I sent a letter and a photo to the Constantiaberg Bulletin when they were flowering last August, but they didn't think it interesting enough for publication - crime it seems, is what they like to focus on! Not tenacious survivors of our world famous indigenous flora.
He identified them as Lachenalia bulbifera – rooinaeltjie. Apparently they would have been naturally occurring in the sand plain fynbos that used to occur here before any houses were built, and the fact that they still come up after decades he says is a miracle!
I sent a letter and a photo to the Constantiaberg Bulletin when they were flowering last August, but they didn't think it interesting enough for publication - crime it seems, is what they like to focus on! Not tenacious survivors of our world famous indigenous flora.
These cheerful little Cape hyacinths, although not all that unusual, are nevertheless endemic to the Cape Floral Region and occur from Klawer (near Citrusdal on the West Coast) to Mossel Bay. They flower from April to September, and are found on sandy slopes and flats.
Lachenalia bulbifera was one of the first Cape bulbs to be introduced to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew from material collected at the Cape by Carl Thunberg in 1774!
For more information on Lachenalia bulbifera and how to grow them, go to http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantklm/lachbulb.htm
