The taxonomic past of Ledebouria is a bit confused, but the genus still manages to captivate the hearts of many. The genus is named in honor of Carl Friedrich von Ledebour, a German-Estonian botanist, while the specific epithet coriacea refers to the thick, leathery appearance of the leaves. The type specimen of L. coriacea was collected in 1989 by Stephanus Venter near Port Elizabeth in the E. Cape of South Africa. This summer growing, but evergreen, bulb is distinguished by the dull leaves that are faintly spotted on the adaxial (upper) surface and also by the thickened leaf margins, which can be easily seen in cross section. Solitary flower stalks grow longer than the leaves and appear from April-June. They bear flowers with reflexed purplish petals and pink-speckled pedicels that soon turn green. We offer divisions of various clones of HBG 104939, grown from seed collected by D.M. Cumming at Colchester, W of Sundays River in the E. Cape, South Africa. $8.
Published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, Vol. 84 (2), March - April, 2012