Ornithogalum verae is a miniature species of the expanded genus Ornithogalum. Like Albuca osmynella, ISI 2023-8, each bulb produces several tightly spiraled leaves. However, in this species they are flattened ribbons, like fine, green twist-ties. The flowers spread to 1 cm (3/8 in) and have six off-white tepals with brownish midstripes and erect stamens. We offer HBG 142363, seedlings from controlled pollination of HBG 137369, a plant that came to us from former Huntington Gardens curator, Michael Vassar (1946-2003). Michael specialized in succulent Pelargonium and Oxalis species but also collected bulbs and mesemb seeds, among other plants, during his frequent expeditions to South Africa. The parents of this collection bear his collection number MV 4860. Alas, many of his field notes were lost after his death in 2003. However, we know from his more widely published Oxalis collection notes that this collection was made in the early 1990s. MV 4794 is an Oxalis sp. collected 27 km up the Witteberg Road, while MV 4862 is an Oxalis sp. collected 12 km N or Matjiesfontein. This suggests that MV 4860 was collected somewhere in the 50 mi of habitat that separates these two localities. In the incredibly species rich flora of the W. Cape Province, this is frustratingly vague. Dylan Hannon identified the plants when they flowered for us in 2022 as Nicipe verae, a name published in 2011. However, this name is now considered a synonym of Ornithogalum verae published in 1996. $15.
Published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, Vol. 95 (2), Summer 2023