Brunsvigia

''Brunsvigia'' is a genus of African flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. It contains about 20 species native to southeastern and southern Africa from Tanzania to the Cape Provinces of South Africa.

Description

Vegetative characteristics

''Brunsvigia'' are perennial, deciduous, temperate, bulbous herbal plants. Most species have subterranean bulbs but they are usually half-exposed in ''B. herrei'' and ''B. josephinae''. Bulbs are tender, usually large (up to 20 cm diameter), winter-growing and summer- dormant, generally flowering in early autumn. Tunics are often thick and cartilaginous, typically brittle and tan-coloured, although they are brown and papery in ''B. josephinae'' and ''B. litoralis''.

The leaves are annual; when mature, the leaves are broad and oblong to tongue-shaped. In species with small bulbs – ''B. radula'', ''B. comptonii'', and ''B. namaquana'' – there are just two or three leaves per plant but most other species have at least four leaves per bulb. ''B. josephinae'' has the distinction of producing as many as 20 leaves. The leaves mostly lie flat on the ground and sometimes press down so firmly that they lie vertically if the bulb is dug up. Only in ''B. litoralis'', ''B. josephinae'', ''B. grandiflora'', ''B. undulata'' and ''B. herrei'' do the leaves stand clear of the ground. Although usually smooth, the upper leaf surfaces of two Namaqualand species (''B. radula'' and ''B. namaquana'') are covered with straw-coloured bristles and in some populations of ''B. striata'' from the southern Cape, they bear soft, scale-like hairs. In the winter rainfall region of southern Africa, the foliage is produced after the flowering heads have been shed, whereas in the summer rainfall region the vegetative and flowering stages often overlap.

Generative characteristics

The scape is firm, to 35 cm, deciduous and breaking at ground level in fruiting time.

The inflorescences, a few- to many-flowered umbels, are particularly conspicuous. In most species the pedicels are long, stiff, straight and radiate outwards to form an almost perfectly spherical head; they elongate and spread after blooming. However, ''B. litoralis'', ''B. josephinae'' and ''B. orientalis'' differ in having pedicels that curve below each flower. Just three species (''B. pulchra'', ''B. marginata'' and ''B. elandsmontana'') have compact, brush-like inflorescences. The flowers are zygomorphic or almost actinomorphic with short tube, segments spreading-recurved. The six tepals of each flower are free to the base or shortly fused into a tube. Radially symmetrical, trumpet-shaped flowers occur in species with compact, dense inflorescences, whereas bilaterally symmetrical flowers occur in species with open, lax heads. In ''B. comptonii'', ''B. radula'' and ''B. namaquana'' the flowers are highly asymmetrical as all but one tepal curve upwards. Often the flowers are scented and all produce nectar. Their colour vary from ruby-red to brilliant scarlet or pale to bright pink and in some species the entire inflorescence is attractively coloured. Pink flowers are the norm, whereas red flowers are found in ''B. marginata'', ''B. orientalis'', ''B. litoralis'' and ''B. josephinae''. Floral markings are often variable within species but dark veins on the tepals are characteristic for ''B. bosmaniae'' and ''B. gregaria''. When in flower, the plants are spectacular but the flowering period is brief and restricted to summer and autumn.

Stamens clustered, arising from the perianth tube, ± declinate or erect, shortly connate at base. Stigma capitate, trilobate (three-lobed). Each locule has 3-10 superimposed ovules whose shape resembles a spinning top. Style filiform, declinate. The water-rich, non-dormant, ovoid, reddish green seeds are borne in large, dry capsules that are spindle-shaped or three-angled, obtuse or acute, transversally veined, and often heavily ribbed. Capsules are dehiscent loculicidally or breaking unevenly. Dehiscence in most species of ''Brunsvigia'' is somewhat tardy and confined to the apex of the capsule, hampered below by heavy ribs that keep the septa closed for most of their length.

Cytology

The number of chromosomes is 2''n'' = 22.

Taxonomy

It was published by Lorenz Heister in 1755.''Brunsvigia'' Heist. (n.d.). International Plant Names Index. Retrieved January 17, 2025, from https://www.ipni.org/n/1371-1 The type species is not designated. The genus ''Brunsvigia'' was named after the House of Braunschweig runswickLüneburg,Meier, U. (2006, March 3)
Die ''Brunsvigia'' - die Pflanze Braunschweigs - Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte unserer Stadt.
Braunschweig Spiegel. Retrieved January 17, 2025, from http://archiv.braunschweig-spiegel.de/index.php/kultur/146-brunsvigia-die-pflanze-braunschweigs specifically honouring the Duke of Brunswick who promoted the study of plants, including the beautiful Cape species ''B. orientalis''. The name was first used in 1753 by Lorenz Heister, a German surgeon and botanist, to describe a single bulb received in 1748 by Gustaaf Willem van Imhoff from Ryk Tulbagh at the Cape.

Species

Species:Sanbi Red List of South African Plants, Species search: ''Brunsvigia''
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Ecology

Pollination

''Brunsvigia'' is the only genus of Amaryllideae in which several species have stout, somewhat tubular, brilliant scarlet, pink, or red flowers that are adapted to bird pollination.

Habitat

''Brunsvigia'' occurs in semi-arid regions''Brunsvigia''. (n.d.). Pacific Bulb Society. Retrieved January 17, 2025, from https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/brunsvigia in sandy, well-draining soil. It occurs both in winter rainfall and summer rainfall regions.

Conservation

''Brunsvigia litoralis'' is endangered due to housing development,South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). (n.d.). ''Brunsvigia'' Heist. PlantZAfrica. Retrieved January 17, 2025, from https://pza.sanbi.org/brunsvigia and invasive plants.McMaster, C. (2007)
The spectacular ''Brunsvigias''.
Farmer’s Weekly, 24–25.

Use

Horticulture

It has been used in intergeneric hybridisation with ''Amaryllis''. Such hybrids are named × ''Amarygia''.× ''Amarygia'' Cif. & Giacom. (n.d.). International Plant Names Index. Retrieved January 17, 2025, from https://www.ipni.org/n/1335-1×Amarygia. (n.d.). Pacific Bulb Society. Retrieved January 17, 2025, from https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/XAmarygia

References

Bibliography

* R.A. Dyer, 1950: ''A review of the genus Brunsvigia''. Plant Life 6: 63-83
* R.A. Dyer, 1951: ''A review of the genus Brunsvigia''. Plant Life 7: 44-64
* C.A. Smith, 1966: ''Common names of South African plants''. Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa No. 35. TheGovernment Printer, Pretoria
* R.S. Adamson, T.A. Salter (eds.), 1950: ''Flora of the Cape Peninsula''. Juta, Cape Town and Johannesburg
* J. Manning, P. Goldblatt, 2000: ''Wild flowers of the fairest Cape''. Red Roof Design in association with the Nationalotanical Institute, Cape Town
* E.G. Rice, R.H. Compton, 1950: ''Wild flowers of the Cape of Good Hope''. The Botanical Society of SA, Cape Town
* A. Pauw, S. Johnson, 1999: ''Table Mountain: a natural history''. Fernwood Press
* G.D. Duncan, 2000: ''Grow bulbs''. Kirstenbosch Gardening Series, National Botanical Institute, Cape Town
* G.D. Duncan, 2002: ''Grow nerines''. Kirstenbosch Gardening Series, National Botanical Institute, Cape Town

External links

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Bulb Society gallery

{{Taxonbar, from=Q137385

Amaryllidaceae genera
Amaryllidoideae