''Eucomis regia'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

bulb In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs du ...

ous

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

in the family

Asparagaceae Asparagaceae, known as the asparagus family, is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. The family name is based on the edible garden asparagus, '' Asparagus officinalis''. Those who live in the temperate ...

, subfamily

Scilloideae Scilloideae (named after the genus '' Scilla'', "squill") is a subfamily of bulbous plants within the family '' Asparagaceae''. Scilloideae is sometimes treated as a separate family Hyacinthaceae, named after the genus '' Hyacinthus''. Scilloidea ...

, native to the

Cape Provinces The Cape Provinces of South Africa is a biogeographical area used in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD). It is part of the WGSRPD region 27 Southern Africa. The area has the code "CPP". It includes the Sou ...

of South Africa. It is sometimes cultivated, but requires protection in a

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These ...

in temperate climates.

Description

''Eucomis regia'' is a winter-growing

ous plant. In flower, it reaches up to tall or less. It grows from a small ovoid bulb, usually solitary, about across. The leaves are about long and wide. They have a rough surface, ridged along the leaf veins, and very small indentations along the margins. They lie flat on the ground. ''E. regia'' flowers from late winter to early spring, dying down completely during the dry summer. The greenish flowers lack obvious

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

s (stalks), being sunken into the scape (stem). They have an unpleasant smell. The flower spike is topped by a head or "coma" of ovate bracts, long enough in some forms to hide the flowers almost completely.

Taxonomy

The species was first described, as ''Fritillaria regia'', by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...

in 1753. In 1789, Charles L'Héritier transferred it to his new genus ''

Eucomis ''Eucomis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, native to southern Africa. Most species of this genus are commonly referred to as pineapple flowers or pineapple lilies. They are bulbous perennials wit ...

''. ''Eucomis pillansii'' has been treated as a separate species or as the subspecies ''E. regia'' subsp. ''pillansii'', but is now included in ''E. regia''. ''E. regia'' is one of the mainly short,

diploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, respecti ...

species of ''Eucomis'' with 2''n'' = 2''x'' = 30

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins ar ...

Distribution and habitat

''Eucomis regia'' is native to the

of South Africa. It is found in two areas in the south west of the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

and the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi ...

, in the winter rainfall zone. It is restricted to heavy clay soils in open areas or in

renosterveld Renosterveld is a term used for one of the major plant communities and vegetation types of the Cape Floristic Region (Cape Floral Kingdom) which is located in southwestern and southeastern South Africa, in southernmost Africa. It is an ecoregio ...

vegetation, amongst rocks on shaded south-facing hillsides.

Cultivation

''Eucomis regia'' has been described as "possibly the least attractive ''Eucomis''. As it is only

half-hardy Hardiness of plants describes their ability to survive adverse growing conditions. It is usually limited to discussions of climatic adversity. Thus a plant's ability to tolerate cold, heat, drought, flooding, or wind are typically considered meas ...

and requires a completely dry rest in summer, it has to be grown in a

in regions with temperate climates, such as the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles (O ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q9371030, from2=Q21874269, from3=Q49412478 Scilloideae Flora of the Cape Provinces Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus