Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Clivia







Clivia is a genus of monocot flowering plants native to southern Africa. They are from the family Amaryllidaceae. Common name is Bush lily.
They are a non-woody evergreen plant, with dark green, strap-like leaves. These leaves produce clusters of bell-shaped flowers on a stalk above the foliage. The flowers somewhat resemble those of certain varieties of Lilium or Amaryllis. Orange is the most common colour but there are also Peach, Near White, Apricot, Red and Yellow varieties.
Specimens were gathered by 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 Lady Charlotte Florentia Clive, Duchess of Northumberland (1787-1866)., who was for a time the governess of the future Queen Victoria.
(taken from Wikipedia)


My clivia plant is blooming now. In the 18+ years that I have had this plant, it has only bloomed a few times. I have found that fertilizing it with African violet fertilizer starting in March gets it to bloom sometimes.

2 comments:

Emily A. said...

It's beautiful! It must have bloomed to cheer you up after all the things you have gone through lately!

Judie and George said...

It's really very pretty; and loaded with blooms.