Interesting Plant: Albuca namaquensis

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Albuca

Discovered via Pinterest User, Isabell Mac

Interesting shapes always make for interesting plants, and this Albuca is no exception. These lovely curlicues would make a great accent plant in any pot or succulent planting.

Find/ Buy Albuca namaquensis | eBay

Albuca is a genus of plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae.[1] Four genera – BattandieraCoilonoxStellarioides andTrimelopter – may be split off from Albuca. Most of the 100-140 species of bulbous plants in this genus are endemic to Southern Africa.[2] Only a few are commonly cultivated.

Leaves range in length from 3 in (8 cm) to 4 ft (1.2 m) and may be flat or keeled. They generally are fleshy and sappy. The juice is mucilaginous, giving the genus the plants the common name “slime lilies” in some areas.[2] The flowers of some species are scented, especially at night. They are borne in racemes, usually slender, but flat-topped in some species. Florets may be on stiff, or slender, nodding stalks.[2] Some of the smallest species have only one or two florets on a stalk, barely amounting to anything clearly resembling a raceme. In colour the flowers range from yellow to white, many species with a greenish or yellowish tinge. Most species also have a broad green, longitudinal band down the middle of each tepal. They have 6 tepals in a bell shape. The flowers generally have a characteristic shape resulting from the fact that the outer three tepals are free-standing and differ radically from the inner three that stand erect with thick, flap-like tips, effectively forming a fleshy tube. The fruiting capsule typically has many flattened or angular black seeds.” — Wikipedia

More information on Albuca namaquensis:

Previously in the Interesting Plant series: 

Interesting Plant is a series from A Gardener’s Notebook blog and podcast that highlights the most interesting plants I find in my Internet and real-world travels — Douglas