Travis, Though not bulbs, it's pertinent to the question that the "Century Plant" agave and many bamboos take 50 years to bloom and then die. How much fun is that? Tim Eck > -----Original Message----- > From: pbs [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Travis O > Sent: Sunday, May 22, 2016 3:32 PM > To: pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > Subject: [pbs] What species takes the longest to flower from seed? > > For the sake of conversation... > > I once read of some SA amaryllid (Boophone, maybe?) that took around 15 > years to flower from seed. I wonder, what is the longest time it has taken a > bulb to flower from seed? > > I'd also be curious what the evolutionary advantages of such a long wait > before flowering are? I understand how for an annual plant, reproduction is > of higher priority than survival. With the long lived bulbs (and trees and > shrubs, I guess) mere survival trumps reproduction. What are the driving > factors, environment? Availability/type of pollinators? > > Travis Owen > Rogue River, OR > > http://www.amateuranthecologist.com/ > http://www.oldsolbees.com/ > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/ > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/