Boophone is a genus of three species from Africa in the Amaryllidaceae family. A conspicuous fan of wavy-edged grey-green leaves and a large scaly bulb above ground - that's a Boophone! Some of the largest bulbs found in the wild are well over a hundred years old, so the ones in a collection could become family heirlooms.
There are several forms of spelling for this genus, but most taxonomists now agree that Boophone is correct, derived from bous = ox, phonos = slaughter (the bulb sap is extremely poisonous). Several common names exist such as Oxbane, Century Bulb, Sore-Eye Flower (pollen is irritating), Gifbol (=Poison Bulb), Tumbleweed, Perdespook (Horse Ghost - the infrutescence rolls across the veld which frightens horses), and a host of names in some of the other indigenous languages, many of which refer to the medicinal and other uses of the bulb.
Cultivation of Boophone species should not be difficult as long as the different climates of each species is known. All three need a very well drained mix. Some bone meal would be beneficial seeing that these species need to remain in (deep) containers for a long time. The plants are always eye-catching, even as a dry bulb sitting on the ground.
The flowers quickly fade after pollination, and the pedicels elongate to form a large decorative seed head with fleshy seeds in the three-sided seed capsules. When the seeds are mature, the infrutescence is dry and stiff, breaking off from the stout peduncle and rolling away in the wind or down the slopes, shedding seeds along the way.
Two species that were once considered to be in Boophone, Boophone flava and Boophone guttata were moved to a new genus, Crossyne. Much of this information is courtesy of Rhoda McMaster
Boophone disticha is found both in the summer rainfall regions, from around Port Elizabeth on the south coast, northwards to East Africa and in areas that also have winter rainfall. In the former winters are dry, but the occasional light shower may occur in winter. The mature bulbs can get to about 17 cm (6-7 in.) in diameter, producing flowers in spring, and leaves about 45 cm (18 in) long and 5 cm (2 in) wide, in spring and summer. Plants from these regions are dormant in winter whereas plants from the other regions grow differently. Blooms in the wild are from September to March. The first two pictures show one grown and photographed by Dirk Wallace. The last picture of leaf detail was taken by Arnold Trachtenberg
Seedlings have a strong fleshy root system, as show in the first photo by Angelo Porcelli. The second and third photos by Jacob Knecht show the detail of senescence of summer's leaves during early winter, along side the leaf bases of many years past and a very large and old bulb during annual senescence.
Boophone ernestii-ruschii is not as commonly grown. It is from the almost desert SW part of Namibia, with scant rainfall in winter and extreme temperature variations typical of desert areas. Summers are very hot and dry. The bulbs produce flowers in late summer, and leaves in winter and spring. Photo by Angelo Porcelli
Boophone haemanthoides is found mainly in the west coastal areas of the Western Cape of South Africa, with winter rainfall. Summers are hot and dry. The bulbs are really large and produce flowers in midsummer with leaves in autumn. This species has striking large red bracts from which creamy-pink flowers emerge. The plant pictured in the first two photos was grown and photographed by Rob Hamilton. The third photo is of of a large patch of leaves near Nieuwoudtville taken August 2001 by Mary Sue Ittner.
The first two pictures show a form from Port Elizabeth that reliably emerges and goes dormant a few weeks ahead of all my other winter growing Boophone. The leaves are are light green, with undulate margins only at the tips of the leaves which are skinnier in width than any other Boophone haemanthoides I've seen. The third is a form from Oudtshoorn that has lovely coloured flowers, a very pleasant scent and glaucous leaves with undulate margins. Finally as the inflorescences morph into infructescences they at least double in size. The effect is quite dramatic and beautiful. Photos by Jacob Knecht.
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