Clivia

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Clivia
Cliviaminiata2.jpg
Clivia miniata var. citrina
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily: Amaryllidoideae
Genus: Clivia
Lindl.
Species

See text

Clivia /ˈklaɪviə/ [1] is a genus of monocot flowering plants native to southern Africa. They are from the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. [2] Common names are Natal lily or bush lily.

They are herbaceous or evergreen perennial plants, with green, strap-like leaves. Individual flowers are more or less bell-shaped, occurring in umbels on a stalk above the foliage; colors typically range from yellow through orange to red. Many cultivars exist, some with variegated leaf patterns.

Description

Species of Clivia are found only in South Africa and Eswatini. They are typically forest undergrowth plants, adapted to low light (with the exception of C. mirabilis from the Western Cape). [3]

Clivia shares common features with the other members of the subfamily Amaryllidoideae. Individual flowers have three sepals and three petals, all very similar (although the sepals are typically narrower than the petals) and collectively called tepals. In Clivia the tepals are fused at the base to form a tube, although this may be very short. The flower varies in shape from an open cup to a narrow hanging tube. In the species the flowers are mainly in shades of yellow through orange to red. The flowers are arranged in umbels (i.e. the flower-stalks or pedicels radiate from a single point); each umbel has a long stalk or peduncle. Several bracts subtend the umbels. Each flower has six stamens and an inferior ovary (i.e. one which is below the tepals) made up of three locules. The stamens have long filaments and anthers which are free to move on their filaments. The style is longer than the tepals, ending in a short three-part stigma. [4]

Flowering time varies. Typically C. miniata, C. nobilis and C. caulescens flower in late winter and spring; in cultivation, C. miniata has out of season flowers at almost any time. C. gardenii and C. robusta flower in the autumn. Interspecific hybrids and cultivars can flower at almost any time of the year depending on climate and the flowering pattern of their parent species. [5]

A distinctive feature of Clivia – shared with the closely related genus Cryptostephanus – is that unlike most species in the subfamily, it does not form bulbs. The long strap-shaped leaves are evergreen and spring from thick branching roots or rhizomes. Like other members of the tribe Haemantheae to which it belongs, Clivia fruits are berries. When ripe, they contain large fleshy seeds which are often more than 1 cm in diameter. [4]

Taxonomy

Specimens were collected by the British explorers William Burchell and John Bowie in 1815 and 1820, respectively. Clivia nobilis became the first named species when in 1828 the Kew botanist John Lindley named it in honor of Charlotte Percy (née Clive), Duchess of Northumberland (1787–1866), [6] who was for a time the governess of the future Queen Victoria. [7] [8] [9]

Evolution and phylogeny

Six genera have been placed in the tribe Haemantheae; all are found in Africa. Molecular phylogenetic analysis carried out in 2004 showed that the tribe is monophyletic (i.e. it contains all the descendants of a single common ancestor). Four species of Clivia were included in the analysis: [3]

Haemantheae

The bulbless Clivia and Cryptostephanus appear to occupy a basal position within the clade. Meerow and Clayton suggest that a forest understorey habitat, associated with the absence of bulbs and the presence of fruits which are berries, may have been a factor in the evolutionary divergence of the Haemantheae clade from the rest of the subfamily Amaryllidoideae. [3]

Species

As of January 2012, six species are recognized by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: [10]

C. mirabilis was only named in 2000, and C. robusta even later, in 2004. [10] Thus older sources frequently state that there are only four or five species.

Natural hybrids

Cultivation

Of the species, Clivia miniata is the most widely cultivated; cultivars with flowers ranging from deep red-orange to pale yellow have been bred by growers. Yellow plants can belong to one of two different groups which breed true for colour, producing seedlings with unpigmented stems and all yellow flowers when mature. When yellows from different groups are crossed, seedlings with pigmented stems occur and the resulting flowers are orange. [5]

C. miniata, C. gardenii, C. robusta and C. caulescens seedlings flower after four to five years. C. nobilis will flower after seven or eight years. It is reported that C. mirabilis also takes about six years to flower.

Care

In cultivation, it is recommended that plants are watered regularly in summer, although not overwatered, with a resting period from autumn till late winter, when the plants are kept almost dry at 46–50 °F (8–10 °C). Plants can be repotted yearly or every other year in all-purpose potting medium or coconut husks.

Propagation is by seed or by offsets removed when repotting. Seeds are sown on the top of moist material in high humidity. [11]

Pests and diseases include scale insects, mealy bug, and rot. [12]

Toxicity

Some species of Clivia, including Clivia miniata, produce small amounts of the alkaloid lycorine. Lycorine is toxic in sufficient quantities, particularly in pets and small children. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Clivia miniata</i> Species of flowering plant

Clivia miniata, the Natal lily or bush lily, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Clivia of the family Amaryllidaceae, native to woodland habitats in South Africa and Eswatini. It is also widely cultivated as an ornamental.

<i>Zephyranthes</i> Genus of flowering plants

Zephyranthes is a genus of temperate and tropical bulbous plants in the Amaryllis family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae, native to the Americas and widely cultivated as ornamentals. Following the expansion of the genus in 2019, which now includes the genera Habranthus and Sprekelia, there are about 200 recognized species, as well as numerous hybrids and cultivars. Common names for species in this genus include fairy lily, rainflower, zephyr lily, magic lily, Atamasco lily, and rain lily.

<i>Zephyranthes carinata</i> Species of plant

Zephyranthes carinata, commonly known as the rosepink zephyr lily or pink rain lily, is a perennial flowering plant native to Mexico, Colombia and Central America. It is also widely cultivated as an ornamental and naturalized in the West Indies, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, the southeastern United States from Texas to Florida, Zimbabwe, South Africa, China, Korea, the Ryukyu Islands, Assam, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Solomon Islands, Queensland, Society Islands, Kiribati, and Caroline Islands.

<i>Zephyranthes robusta</i> Species of plant

Zephyranthes robusta, synonym Habranthus robustus, commonly known as the Brazilian copperlily, pink fairy lily or the pink rain lily, is a species of herbaceous flowering bulb. It is native to Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, but is now naturalized in Florida, Colombia, South Africa, and Mauritius.

<i>Eucrosia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Eucrosia is a genus of herbaceous, perennial and bulbous plants in the Amaryllis family distributed from Ecuador to Peru. The name is derived from the Greek eu, beautiful, and krossos, a fringe, referring to the long stamens. As circumscribed in 2020, the genus contains six species. Phaedranassa and Rauhia are the genera most closely related to Eucrosia.

Urceolina dodsonii, formerly known as Eucrosia dodsonii, is a species of plant that is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<i>Pamianthe</i> Genus of flowering plants

Pamianthe is a genus of South American bulbous perennials in the Amaryllis family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. They can be found in sandy, but rocky areas in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.

<i>Clivia nobilis</i> Species of flowering plant

Clivia nobilis, the green-tip forest lily, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Clivia, of the family Amaryllidaceae, native to South Africa. It grows to about 38 cm (15 in). It has evergreen strap-shaped leaves, and bears pendent umbels of multiple narrow, trumpet-shaped, red and yellow flowers, tipped with green.

<i>Scadoxus</i> Genus of flowering plants

Scadoxus is a genus of African and Arabian plants in the Amaryllis family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. The English names blood lily or blood flower are used for some of the species. The genus has close affinities with Haemanthus. Species of Scadoxus are grown as ornamental plants for their brilliantly coloured flowers, either in containers or in the ground in frost-free climates. Although some species have been used in traditional medicine, they contain poisonous alkaloids.

Habranthus (copperlily) was a formerly recognized genus of tender herbaceous flowering bulbs in the subfamily Amaryllidoideae of the family Amaryllidaceae. It is now included within a more broadly circumscribed genus Zephyranthes. The genus was first identified by pioneering bulb enthusiast William Herbert in 1824.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Griffineae</span> Tribe of flowering plants

The Griffineae is a tribe in the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. It includes 3 genera with 22 species endemic to Brazil in South America. A typical character of the representatives of the tribe are the flowers - They are blue or lilac and collected into an umbel. Only the members of this tribe and the genus Lycoris are able to form flowers with such color in the whole subfamily Amaryllidoideae of Amaryllidaceae. The species in this group are typically perennial and produce bulbs. The leaves are green, with elliptical form in most of the cases but in some members, as in Worsleya, they are sword-shaped.

<i>Urceolina amazonica</i> Species of plant

Urceolina amazonica, formerly known as Eucharis amazonica, is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae, native to Peru. It is cultivated as an ornamental in many countries and naturalized in Venezuela, Mexico, the West Indies, Ascension Island, Sri Lanka, Fiji, the Solomon Islands and the Society Islands. The English name Amazon lily is used for this species, but is also used for some other species of the genus Urceolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amaryllidaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

The Amaryllidaceae are a family of herbaceous, mainly perennial and bulbous flowering plants in the monocot order Asparagales. The family takes its name from the genus Amaryllis and is commonly known as the amaryllis family. The leaves are usually linear, and the flowers are usually bisexual and symmetrical, arranged in umbels on the stem. The petals and sepals are undifferentiated as tepals, which may be fused at the base into a floral tube. Some also display a corona. Allyl sulfide compounds produce the characteristic odour of the onion subfamily (Allioideae).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amaryllidoideae</span> Subfamily of flowering plants

Amaryllidoideae is a subfamily of monocot flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, order Asparagales. The most recent APG classification, APG III, takes a broad view of the Amaryllidaceae, which then has three subfamilies, one of which is Amaryllidoideae, and the others are Allioideae and Agapanthoideae. The subfamily consists of about seventy genera, with over eight hundred species, and a worldwide distribution.

<i>Scadoxus cinnabarinus</i> Species of flowering plant

Scadoxus cinnabarinus is a herbaceous plant from tropical rainforest in Africa. It is native to Western and Central Africa from Sierra Leone in the far west to Angola in the south. It has been reported from Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Niger, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, São Tomé, Zaire, Uganda, and Angola.

Scadoxus pseudocaulus is a herbaceous plant native to Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon and Gabon. Similar in many respects to Scadoxus cinnabarinus, it is cultivated as an ornamental plant but has proved reluctant to flower.

<i>Urceolina</i> Species of plant

Urceolina is a genus of South American plants in the amaryllis family native to Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, and Peru. It has also been introduced to many South and Central American states, as well as India and Sri Lanka. The formerly accepted genera Eucharis and Caliphruria are now regarded as synonyms of this genus. Many species of this genus share the common name Amazon lily.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haemantheae</span> Tribe of flowering plants

Haemantheae are a tribe of subfamily Amaryllidoideae. They are herbaceous monocot perennial flowering plants with a predominantly African distribution. Three subtribes are proposed and six genera including the type genus, Haemanthus, are included. They are characterised by the presence of baccate (berry) fruit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cliviinae</span> Subtribe of flowering plants

Cliviinae is a small subtribe of Haemantheae, and therefore within the African clades of Amaryllidoideae. It consists of two genera, Clivia, and Cryptostephanus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haemanthinae</span> Subtribe of flowering plants

Haemanthinae is a small subtribe of Haemantheae, and therefore within the African clades of Amaryllidoideae. It consists of two genera, Haemanthus, and Scadoxus.

References

  1. ↑ Western Garden Book. Sunset Books. 1995. pp. 606–607. ISBN   0-376-03851-9.
  2. ↑ Stevens, P.F., Angiosperm Phylogeny Website: Asparagales: Amaryllidoideae
  3. 1 2 3 Meerow, A.W. & Clayton, J.R. (2004), "Generic relationships among the baccate-fruited Amaryllidaceae (tribe Haemantheae) inferred from plastid and nuclear non-coding DNA sequences" (PDF), Plant Systematics and Evolution, 244 (3): 141–155, Bibcode:2004PSyEv.244..141M, doi:10.1007/s00606-003-0085-z, S2CID   10245220 , retrieved 2012-01-31[ permanent dead link ]
  4. 1 2 Koopowitz, Harold (2002), Clivias, Portland: Timber Press, ISBN   978-0-88192-546-3 , pp. 37–38
  5. 1 2 Marriott, Helen, Clivia News (Quarterly Newsletter of the Clivia Society), 19 (4): 24{{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ Clivia Archived 2016-05-07 at the Wayback Machine San Marcos Growers. URL accessed April 8, 2006.
  7. ↑ Clivia Forum. A Clivia discussion Forum.
  8. ↑ Clivia Indonesia [ permanent dead link ]. Indonesia Clivia Forum.
  9. ↑ Clivia Base Archived 2018-11-03 at the Wayback Machine . South African Clivia Website.
  10. 1 2 3 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew , retrieved 2012-01-31, search for "Clivia"
  11. ↑ "Clivia Plant Care". Chicago Botanic Gardens.
  12. ↑ "Clivia". Wisconsin Horticulture.
  13. ↑ Notes on poisoning: Clivia miniata Archived 2012-03-18 at the Wayback Machine

Bibliography

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