Eucrosia is a genus in the Amaryllidaceae family from the western slopes of South American, namely Equador and Peru. Most of the species are lowland species where they inhabit seasonally dry vegetation areas. The plants flower late spring or early summer, before the leaves appear. They require a well drained soil, bright light and a temperature that remains above 50F. Flowers are in umbels on tall stems, and some species have extremely reduced tepals but very long stamens that give the umbel the appearance of an elegant mop! Numerous offsets are produced; plants can also be raised from seed.
Eucrosia aurantiaca is a species that is native to Ecuador with 6 to 14 gold yellow flowers in an umbel. Photos by Mary Sue Ittner taken June 2007 in the greenhouse of Telos Rare Bulbs.
Eucrosia bicolor is native to Ecuador and Peru. This species grows very well in tropical climates. It produces plenty of leaves (as seen in photo #6) and multiplies quickly. There seems to be only one clone in cultivation because attempts to pollinate plants from multiple accessions did not result in seed production. Grow the bulbs in good sunlight (partial/filtered sun) and give the plant plenty of water during the summer growing season. Once the leaves start to die down in response to winter, stop watering and allow the bulbs to have a dry winter dormancy which will trigger flower formation for the spring. Keep the bulbs pot-bound (1 gallon) to induce mass blooming. Photos #1-4 by Jacob Knecht, #5 by Colin Davis.
The photos below were taken by Nhu Nguyen showing various aspects of the species. Photo 1 was taken at the Koko Crater Botanic Garden, Hawai'i.
Eucrosia eucrosioides is native to southwestern Ecuador and northern Peru. Flowers are orange-scarlet and green with long strongly curved green stamens (9cm) and an equally long style (10 cm). Photos by Alessandro Marinello.
Eucrosia mirabilis is native to Ecuador. Photos 1-2 was taken by Dave Brastow; he wrote "I encountered it for the first time at the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. The flowers are on a stalk about 80 cm tall. Each umbel is 20 cm across. There were numerous spherical bulbs, many about 10 cm in diameter, sitting at the soil surface. The leaves, which appear after the flowers, are about 15 cm wide by 30 cm long on a mature plant." This species should be grown in very good to almost full sun. Water well during the summer growing season. Once the large spatulate leaves (either 1 or 2) starts turning yellow, stop watering and allow the plant to go dormant for the winter. Photos 3-6 by Jacob Knecht show floral details and the foliage of a plant grown in Honolulu, Hawai`i.
The photos below were taken by Nhu Nguyen showing various aspects of the flowers from bud to seeds.
