Albuca is an African genus of more than 100 species belonging to the Hyacinthaceae family and includes some species more recently included in Ornithogalum. All Albuca species grow from bulbs, and most have a dormancy period after flowering whereby they lose their leaves. The flower scape is unbranched. The flowers are white and yellow and are embellished with a green to brown stripe down the middle of each outer tepal. Species G-P are found on this wiki page.
Albuca index - Albuca A-F - Albuca R-Z - Ornithogalum
Albuca humilis is found on the edges and seams of rock sheets, gravel and silt patches and rock grassland up to 2800 meters in the Eastern Mountain Region of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. It grows from 3 to 25 cm. and has white flowers with the outer tepals striped green and the inner tepals tipped yellow. Photos taken at Naude's Nek January 2010 by Mary Sue Ittner.
Albuca juncifolia grows on sandy and calcareous flats in the western and southern Cape. Plants grow from 15 to 30 cm and have 4 to 10 slender stiff leaves that are not clasping below and usually terete above and nodding flowers that are yellow with green keels. It flowers in spring (September to October).
Albuca longipes grows in dry silty loam in karroid scrub from the Richtersveld to Biedouw Valley (mostly northwest Cape, winter rainfall areas.) It has white erect flowers with green keels. The hooded inner tepals have golden yellow tips. Flowers are 20 to 25 mm across and plants grow to about 20 cm. The first photo was taken by Alan Horstmann. The second was taken in the Cederberg by Mary Sue Ittner October 2006. The last four photos were taken by Andrew Harvie; photo 3 and 4 were taken near Springbok in Namaqualand and 5 and 6 in the De Hoop Nature Reserve.
Albuca massonii grows on sandstone slopes in the northwest Cape and flowers September to October. Plants are 20 to 30 cm high with two or three channeled slender leaves and nodding yellow to green flowers with green keels. Photos taken in habitat in the Oorlogskloof Nature Reserve by Andrew Harvie. The flowers were very small, about 10 mm. long.
Albuca namaquensis (syn. Albuca circinata) has yellow flowers with green stripes and tapering leaves. Plants grow up to 30cm high. The leaves are scabrid (rough or scaly) or hairy. The hairs on the leaves are not glandular. In dry conditions its leaves coil like Albuca spiralis. It grows on stony sandstone slopes from Namibia to the Eastern Cape. The photos below by Mary Sue Ittner show new leaves emerging after a dry period in summer September 2004 and the flowers. The third and fourth photos are from Jacob Knecht, who feels the flowers smell like Play-doh.
Albuca navicula U. Mueller-Doblies grows to 20cm tall, its bulb typically depressed-globose. Leaves erect-ascending, straight and channeled like the hull of a boat (navicular), glaucous, finely hairy along the margins. Flowers in spring (about March) few per scape, dull green and nodding. This species is marked especially by its small size and "boat-like" leaves. Only described as new in 1994, A. navicula occurs on red sandy flats from Clanwilliam to Namaqualand.
This is an excellent winter bulb for small pots. Dylan Hannon reports that it has grown well planted shallowly (not more than 1" deep) in 3" pots in a mix comprised mostly of sand and pumice with about 10% organic matter. A. navicula appreciates bright light and even full sun so long as hot temperatures are avoided. The soil mix should be allowed to dry between waterings. As with some other albucas and hyacinths, this species may remain dormant through a whole growing season-- in other words, it can skip a year of growth. This can happen in spite of abundant rain or watering and even with the development of a healthy new root system. This phenomenon appears to be a sort of stasis rather than a setback and a normal growth cycle can be expected the following season.
The photos below depict material collected by John Lavranos in southeastern Namaqualand, near Platbakkies in 1997 (Lavranos & Teissier 30685). Photographed and grown by Dylan Hannon.
Albuca nelsonii is one of the larger species, and is quite common in the nursery trade these days. The first two photos below by Roy Herold are of a nice planting at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town, South Africa, in November, 2006. The next two photos were taken in habitat, Kei Mouth, Eastern Cape by Andrew Harvie.
Albuca osmynella, formerly known as Ornithogalum osmynellum, is endemic to the Oograbies Hills, Namaqualand, Northern Cape, South Africa. It is a Red Data species. The first three photos from Monica Swartz show the mounding bulbs and the strange branching flowers. The leaves of this species are spiral but these photos don't show that. The last photo by Pamela Slate shows the bulbs.
Albuca polyphylla Baker (syn. Ornithogalum teretifolium Manning & Goldblatt) is native to the Eastern Cape and the eastern part of the Western Cape. According to Elsa Pooley in her book Mountain Flowers, this species is found in crevices of rock sheets and gravel and silt patches on rock sheets, in seasonally waterlogged areas in the Drakensberg Mountains. Flowers resemble Albuca humilis but do not have yellow on the inner tepal.See the full description of this species when it was published.
Albuca pulchra, formerly known as Ornithogalum pulchrum is a tall summer growing species distributed from Namibia to Botswana. Photo by Rod Saunders.
Albuca index - Albuca A-F - Albuca R-Z - Ornithogalum