Is this normal for Haemanthus nortieri?

Paul Licht plicht@berkeley.edu
Tue, 12 Jan 2010 07:15:00 PST
Jim
Unlike your experience, the H. coccineus in both the Botanical Garden 
and my home garden definitely make several offsets. These may even 
appear shortly before their first bloom.

Paul Licht, Director
Univ. California Botanical Garden
200 Centennial Drive
Berkeley, CA 94720
(510)-643-8999
http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/


On 1/12/2010 5:14 AM, J.E. Shields wrote:
> Michael,
>
> That does not look like my plant of Haemanthus nortieri.   On my plant the
> single leaf stands quite erectly, straight up.  Its surface is slightly
> sticky or tacky, and bits of dust, sand, etc., stick to it.  The leaf is
> somewhat succulent as well.
>
> Neither my bulb of H. nortieri nor Graham Duncan's much older bulb of
> nortieri, at Kirstenbosch in Cape Town, has ever bloomed.  I guess you
> could say that not blooming is the main trait your Haemanthus has in common
> with nortieri (that's a joke).  You don't have nortieri.
>
> As far as I know, neither nortieri nor coccineus ever makes any
> offsets.  HH. barkerae, pubescens, humilis hirsutus, albiflos, and
> pauculifolius are the only ones that usually make offsets.  H. humilis
> humilis may occasionally make an offset, but produces seed so readily (if
> you have at least 2 clones) that offsets don't matter.
>
> What it actually is would be hard to say until it blooms.  At a guess, you
> have Haemanthus coccineus.  H. coccineus will eventually bloom for you, and
> then should bloom almost every year from then on.  It does make a very
> attractive plant and inflorescence, but it is not rare.  I have a bunch of
> bloom size bulbs of coccineus in my greenhouse, and I really enjoy them
> when they bloom sometime in August-Sept-October.
>
> Best regards,
> Jim Shields
> in cold and snowy Westfield, Indiana
> USA.
>
>
>
> At 11:02 AM 1/12/2010 +0000, Michael wrote:
>    
>> .......
>> Now could somebody please tell me if it is normal for Haemanthus nortieri
>> to have 2 leaves at a time? I thought it only produced a singe leaf, at
>> least that's what the literatue says about it.
>>
>> My plant never flowered to me but I guess the leaves are attractive enough
>> on their own. Are there any chances of the plant being confused, thus the
>> reluctance on blooming? Or coud it be dividing itself from the crown? Does
>> this species ever produces offsets?
>>      
> *************************************************
> Jim Shields             USDA Zone 5             Shields Gardens, Ltd.
> P.O. Box 92              WWW:    http://www.shieldsgardens.com/
> Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA
> Tel. ++1-317-867-3344     or      toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA
>
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