Ornithogalum thyrsoides

Ornithogalum thyrsoides
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Plantae
Clade:Angiosperms
Clade:Monocots
Order:Asparagales
Family:Asparagaceae
Subfamily:Scilloideae
Tribe:Ornithogaleae
Genus:Ornithogalum
Species: O. thyrsoides
Binomial name
Ornithogalum thyrsoides
Synonyms[1]

Ornithogalum thyrsoides[2] is a bulbous plant species that is endemic to the Cape Province in South Africa. It is also known by the common names of chinkerinchee or chincherinchee, star-of-Bethlehem or wonder-flower. [3] It produces long-lasting flowers prized as cut flowers.[4]

It is perennial, attaining 20 to 50 cm in height, becoming dormant during winter. It produces some half-a-dozen fleshy leaves which die after flowering - the leaves being some 15 to 30 cm in length and 0.5 to 1.5 cm in width, lanceolate, smooth and soft-textured. The flowers are in a compact raceme of some 30-50 or in a loose corymb of 5-20 flowers. The flowers are bowl-shaped with green bracts of approximate pedicel length. Flowers are white to creamy-white, with brown or green centres fading with age. They are seen from October to February, and are phototropic. The spindle-shaped capsular fruit holds black, shiny seeds of diverse shapes.

O. thyrsoides has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.[5][6]

References

  1. ↑ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  2. ↑ Thyrsoides: with a flowering spike like a Bacchic thyrsus.
  3. ↑ "Ornithogalum thyrsoides". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved May 6, 2008.
  4. ↑ http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantnop/ornithogthyr.htm
  5. ↑ "RHS Plantfinder - Ornithogalum thyrsoides". Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  6. ↑ "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 64. Retrieved 14 April 2018.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.