Nerine bowdenii

Nerine bowdenii subsp. var.	Cape Flower, Guernsey Lily, Spider Lily
	Habit: bulbous Height: ⇕ to Width: ⇔ to 14in20in Height: ⇕ 14 in to 20 in Width: ⇔ warning.png"" cannot be used as a page name in this wiki. to warning.png"" cannot be used as a page name in this wiki. Lifespan: ⌛ perennial Origin: ✈ S Africa Poisonous: ☠ Bloom: ❀ mid summer	Exposure: ☼ Water: ◍ moderate, dry Features: ✓ flowers, drought tolerant Hidden fields, interally pass variables to right place Minimum Temp: ☃ °Fwarning.png"°F" is not a number. USDA Zones: to Sunset Zones: Flower features: ❀ pink
	Amaryllidaceae > Nerine bowdenii var. , Watson

Nerine bowdenii is a species of perennial plant. The common names of the species are Cape Flower, Guernsey Lily, and Japanese Spider Lily. The species were first brought to the United Kingdom from South Africa by Cornish Bowden in 1903. The species gets its name from Cornish Bowden.

Description

The plants are 36 to 51 cm tall and the bulbs are 12 to 14 cm in circumference. The blossoms are pink and resemble finely cut lilies. The species grow best in heat and well-drained soil. The plant has anywhere from eight or more flowers that have a faint scent. The tips of the flowers are frilly and the leaves are strap-shaped. The leaves do not appear until spring. Because of this, the species can tolerate lower temperatures than most species in the genus. Blooming occurs in July and is able to tolerate drought. The stem is 46 cm tall. The plants need to be planted where they cannot be disturbed for several years except for watering and bloom best when they are crowded. While the species is grown best in heat, it will not tolerate tropical or very humid weather. Plants of this species should not be moved after they are planted. They should be planted in the spring. The species is able to survive the winter. For many years, it was thought that the species is originally from Japan, but it is originally from South Africa, especially in the Drakensberg Mountains.

Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Nerine bowdenii, W. Wats. Bulb variable in size, the largest bottle-shaped and 1½ in. diam. and 2 in. long, freely producing offsets: Lvs. ½-1 ft. long and 1 in. or less broad, glossy green, slightly channeled, obtuse: scape nearly cylindrical, 12-18 in. long, bearing a loose 6-12-fld. umbel 9 in. across, the trigonous pedicels 2 in. long; fls. large, rose-pink with keels darker; segms. 2-3 in. long and ½ in. wide, recurved and slightly wavy. Cape Colony.—As grown at Kew, the plants are practically leafless when in fl. Var. pallida, Hort. (N. Veitchii, Hort.), is pale in color (blush-white): fls. 2¼ in. across, with recurved segms. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

Pests and diseases

The plant virus, vallota mosaic virus has been found to infect Nerine bowdenii and other members of the Nerine genus in the UK.

Gallery

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

• w:Nerine bowdenii. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Nerine bowdenii QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)