ISI 2012-10. Albuca concordiana Baker

This was originally described as an Albuca by Baker from a specimen collected in 1897. It was later transferred to Ornithogalum by Müller-Doblies & Müller-Doblies then later determined to fit better in Albuca by Manning et al. The Latin meaning of Albuca refers to the whitish color of the flowers although they are more yellow than white in this and some other species. The epithet concordiana refers to Concordia, South Africa, where the type specimen was collected. This small bulb comes from the winter rainfall regions of southwestern Africa, producing its miniature whirlwinds of leaves in early winter, and slowly offseting to form clumps. When dormancy begins, the inflorescence appears and soon bursts open with fragrant flowers with bright yellow petals with a broad green midrib. When flowers begin to appear, water should be withheld in order to avoid rot. We offer HBG 108055, seedlings grown by Tim Harvey who received his parent stock from Steven Hammer without further data. $15.

Photo © 2012 by Tim Harvey. Images may not be used elsewhere without permission.

Published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, Vol. 84 (2), March - April, 2012