Bulbine bulbosa
Bulbine Lily
Bulbine Lily
Wikipedia links: Angiosperms > Monocots > Asparagales > Asphodelaceae > Asphodeloideae > Bulbine bulbosa
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Overview:
Bulbine bulbosa, commonly known as bulbine lily, native leek, golden lily, or native onion, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asphodelaceae and is endemic to Australia
It is a perennial herb with thick roots, channelled leaves, and yellow flowers with hairy stamen filaments.
Common name: Bulbine Lily
Conservation status: . . .
Etymology:
The specific epithet (bulbosa) means "bulb", although the species does not form true bulbs
Flowers
The flowers are borne in racemes 4.5–26 cm long with up to fifty fragrant flowers on one or two scapes 19–50 cm long
Each flower is on a pedicel 5–30 mm long with a bract 0.7–15 mm long at the base
The six tepals are yellow, 9–22 mm long and 1–3.5 mm wide, and the stamens are 8–9 mm long with golden-brown, club-shaped hairs on the filaments, and gold-coloured anthers
Flowering occurs from February to March
Fruit:
A more or less spherical to oval capsule 3–6 mm long
Leaves:
There are between three and seven leaves, channelled to more or less cylindrical, tapering and hollow, up to 30 cm long and 1–5 mm wide
Stem & branches:
Roots:
Habit:
Bulbine bulbosa is a perennial herb that grows in tufts 27–75 cm high with thick, fleshy roots and usually a bulb-like tuber
Habitat:
Distribution:
Bulbine bulbosa is found in all Australian states and the Australian Capital Territory, except for Western Australia and the Northern Territory
It grows in a wide range of habitats but usually in damp places in grassland, woodland and forest, sometimes at altitudes above 1 800 m
Additional notes:
Taxonomy
This species was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown who gave it the name Anthericum bulbosa in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen
In 1821, Adrian Hardy Haworth changed the name to Bulbine bulbosa in Revisiones Plantarum Succulentarum
The taxon may be a complex of up to four distinct species
Ecology
Experiments have shown that the ability of self-sown seeds of B. bulbosa to germinate between tufts of grasses of several species, depends on the species of grass and the gap width between the tufts
The experiments were performed to test the performance of the B. bulbosa in habitat reconstruction programs in south-eastern Australia
Uses
Bush food
The corms of mature plants are nutritious, containing calcium and iron, and were used as food by Aboriginal people, who called it parm, puewan, and pike
They regarded the corms as the sweetest-tasting of the lily and lily-like Australian plants
Horticulture
The long-lasting stalks of fragrant, attractive yellow flowers and its moderate frost-hardiness have encouraged its use as a garden flower in suitable areas
Few garden varieties have been developed, however
The plant can be propagated from seeds or by division of the corm. Seeds are released from the ripened seed capsules and are best kept at least a month or two before use
They should be sown in the spring, and germination takes about 35 days. Watering and good drainage are essential
The species suppresses self-fertilization, so collecting seeds from garden-grown plants may result in low germination
Planting seeds from multiple sources may increase yield
Sources of information: