Brunsvigia

Brunsvigia is a South African genus of Amaryllidaceae which grow in semi-arid regions. There are both winter rainfall and summer rainfall species that flower with and without leaves at the time. Some produce amazing floral displays. Brunsvigia was the topic of the week for the Pacific Bulb Society list in January 2003. Click on the link to read Bill Dijk's Introduction. For more information consult the The South African National Biodiversity Institute Brunsvigia page. Cameron McMaster has provided extremely interesting information about this genus in an article he wrote for Farmer's Weekly in 2007.

Jim Lykos, who breeds Amaryllids in Australia, has found that the fertility of Brunsvigia flowers depends on the size of the inflorescence and number of leaves. When the inflorescence has a relatively low number of flowers, it is self-infertile. When it has more flowers, the flowers tend to be self-fertile and are also more likely to cross-breed successfully with other Amaryllid genera. The number of flowers produced in autumn is proportional to the number of leaves produced in the previous growing season.

He also found that the plants will sometimes produce one or two seeds per capsule even when crossed with incompatible pollen. The seeds produced by these crosses are apomixic (clones of the seed parent).

His comments can be read here.

×Amarygia is the name used for hybrids between Amaryllis belladonna and Brunsvigia.


Photos of some of the features of the species are shown below.

Brunsvigia gregaria bulb on 1 cm squares, Mary Sue IttnerBrunsvigia comptonii leaves, Cameron McMasterBrunsvigia josephinae, Rob HamiltonBrunsvigia bosmaniae, Nieuwoudtville, Rachel SaundersBrunsvigia grandiflora, Maclear, Mary Sue IttnerBrunsvigia radulosa, Dordrecht, Cameron McMasterBrunsvigia grandiflora, fruit, Cameron McMasterBrunsvigia marginata infructescence, Michael Mace

Representatives of some of the species are shown below. Information on named species can be found on the wiki pages below or by clicking on the name of the species in the table.


Brunsvigia species
Brunsvigia bosmaniae, Alan Horstmann [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Brunsvigia bosmaniae
Brunsvigia comptonii flowers, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Brunsvigia comptonii
Brunsvigia elandsmontana, Alan Horstmann [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Brunsvigia elandsmontana
Brunsvigia gariepensis, Uluwehi Knecht [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Brunsvigia gariepensis
Brunsvigia grandiflora, UC Botanical Garden [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Brunsvigia grandiflora
Brunsvigia gregaria, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Brunsvigia gregaria
Brunsvigia josephinae, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
*Brunsvigia gydobergensis
Brunsvigia herrei, Nhu Nguyen [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Brunsvigia herrei
Brunsvigia josephinae, UC Botanical Garden, Nhu Nguyen [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Brunsvigia josephinae
Brunsvigia litoralis, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Brunsvigia litoralis
Brunsvigia marginata, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Brunsvigia marginata
Brunsvigia striata, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
*Brunsvigia minor
Brunsvigia namaquana, Bert Zaalberg [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Brunsvigia namaquana
Brunsvigia natalensis, Jenny Potgieter, iNaturalist, CC BY-NC [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Brunsvigia natalensis
Brunsvigia_orientalis_Bredasdorp_CM.jpg Δ
Brunsvigia orientalis
juddkirkel, Brunsvigia pulchra, iNaturalist, CC BY-NC [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Brunsvigia pulchra
Brunsvigia radula, Alan Horstmann [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Brunsvigia radula
Brunsvigia radulosa, Dordrecht, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Brunsvigia radulosa
Brunsvigia sp. Namibia, UCBG, Nhu Nguyen [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Brunsvigia sp. Namibia
Brunsvigia striata, Andrew Harvie [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Brunsvigia striata
Brunsvigia undulata, Peter Warren, iNaturalist, CC0 [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Brunsvigia undulata
* = synonym

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