Need held to identify a succulent bulb

13 years ago

Hello Caudiciphiles,

I have acquired a plant I would like to have identified. It was field collected in SA and, in all general aspects, looks and grows very much like Bowiea volubilis except: 1) after years of growth, the largest bulbs are only about half the size of a golf ball and remain just barely exposed rather than on the surface like B. volubilis, and 2) the stem remains much smaller and much more highly divided (feathery, very showy) than B. volubilis. If it were a ssp. of B. volubilis, the ssp. epithet might be "nana" or "compacta", but these names are just conjecture. Does anyone have any idea of what this plant is? Is anyone growing any plant like this?

Regards, Genepaul

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Comments (7)

cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
13 years ago
Genepaul,

How about a picture or three? Is it deciduous?

First guess is an Albuca, but probably something else entirely - Lachenalia, Scilla, Drimiopsis...I never knew bulbs well enough.
Genepaul
Original Author
13 years ago
Cactusmcharris,
Thanks for the quick response. I'll try to find pictures of the genera you listed. I don't have any photos of this plant and if I took some this time of year, all you would see is the brown, shriveled tops of several dormant bulbs at soil (pot) level. It will be dormant for the next few months, so I guess that I will have to re-post with pictures later. When growing, it looks exactly like a dwarf, highly branched climbing onion.
Genepaul
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Where in AZ, exactly? Can make a difference. Even in Phoenix, where I am, some things do better in different parts of town. Your instincts on most nurseries is generally right -- most of that stuff is from CA and won't live. Look for plants from Mountain States Nurseries or Civano (wholesale growers in AZ). Forget Home Depot/Lowes, generally. Most of their stuff, including cacti comes from CA and won't make it, even if that species grown here would be OK. Even non-native Cacti from Mexico and SA can get toasted here. That said, you can have a great garden here, just gotta learn how. It's just that nothing you liked from the NW will survive here. . If you're in Phoenix, I strongly reccomend some classes from the Desert Botanical Garden. Also strong +1 on the suggestion to look up CASS -- if you're not in Phoenix, their website still has some good info. In terms of cactus and design, Scott Calhoun has some great books. Mary Irish's book on perennials is also great. Generally speaking, you've got to learn the right plant for the right place. Partial shade is key for many, including cacti. Many succulents can't make it outside here, excepting Hawarthias in pots out of the sun. Some aloes are good in the sun (Blue Elves, Veras). Many others do well with partial shade. The trick is some desert trees (Hybrid Palo Verdes) that give dappled shade. Put native cacti in the full sun, non-natives in dappled shade. Many perennials do well in partial shade. Austrailan plants do really well (Eremophilias). African plants too (some euphorbias, some vines). Native desert plants do great, you just have to learn about them. You CAN have the mosaic garden you want with cacti, aloes, and perennials. Let us know specifically where you are in AZ, do some reading/learning and ask some more specific questions and people here can help you.
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Thanks everybody, much appreciated! I think you are right about the first one being S. thurberi. The thought had occurred to me before, but the way it was branching didn't quite seem to match. However, I realize now that it's probably branching naturally only at the base, and that the branches further up were probably all caused by people taking cuttings. I think I read somewhere that thurberis rarely branch in cultivation, but I guess this one doesn't know. Jen, thanks for the Goldfish plant ID - after looking it up I'm pretty sure you're right on that one. Dan: yeah, in that picture I think the Trichocereus(?) is in a 2" or maybe 2.5" pot. shrubs_n_bulbs: I already repotted it shortly after that picture was taken, so it's got some more room to grow now. For comparison, here is a new picture of it together with a larger Pachanoi (which, as you said, is a very quick grower): I'm still not 100% convinced that the small one is a pachanoi - I'm surprised that it's branching that much already, and that the spines are spaced so much closer to each other compared to the larger one in the picture. But, I don't know what young pachanois look like, so it's certainly possible. Thanks for the info on the Agave, it probably is a filifera or toumeyana. Denise, I may take you up on that offer. Maybe I'll have some time this weekend to separate the pups, or maybe I'll do it some time later and send you an email at that point. I have a batesiana hybrid myself too, but that one looks quite different from this and was much more modest when it flowered recently, with a single stalk (though it looks like there is another one on its way). Again, thanks! Fredrik
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Haworthia, a succulent not a cactus. Not sure which kind but could be some form of H. fasciata. Looking very healthy with a bloom and many pups.
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Kara, Currently I leave both the plants at my east-facing window sill at which sunlight is available for around 8am to 10am. And I plan to increase the sunlight exposure by an hour a week. Hopefully, they can enjoy themselves =) P/s: I live in the southern region in which the weather is still sunny and not quite humid at this time of year ^^. Btw, being curious about location and some private information is welcoming here as it is part of our norms, so no worries :))) Frank, Wow, so this one is the hybrid between the Sedum and Echeveria? Patrick, Ok, so it should be fine to leave them there a week before watering again. I also wonder whether gradual sunlight adjustment like I plan is ok or it is too long? P/s: about the ID yeah we should wait for more comments to confirm. These echies are sometimes too shy to reveal their true forms, or they just love to make us confused xD Thank you all for being very informative and enthusiastic in supporting me ^^
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Genepaul
Original Author
13 years ago
Hi,
I checked out Albuca, Lachenallia, Scilla, and Drimiopsis and none looked at all like my plants. I does look almost exactly like a dwarf, highly branched Bowiea volubilis but the mature stems are only 3-4 ft max and very feathery compared to B. volubis with 8 ft plus stems that are much more open. Like B. volubis, the leaves are TINY, scale-like structures along the stem wherever a new branch comes off (nodes) that are too small to readily see, and the flowers are small, sparse, and greenish. The showy part of the plant is the highly divided stems. That is why I think if may be a ssp. of B. volubis or a different species of Bowiea (which is listed a being comprised of only 1 species) - the thought has occurred to me that it may be an undescribed taxon.
Regards, Genepaul
beachplant
13 years ago
Gene, go to the bulbs forum and look for Dan, he posts on the amaryllis forum all the time too. If anyone can ID it he can.
Tally HO!
cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
13 years ago
Genepaul,

Please post a picture of the bulb.

And I agree with BP - Dan's the heyManthus when it comes to bulbs. He is also here, sometimes.
PRO
Kaveh Maguire Garden Design
13 years ago
How about Schizobasis intricata?

{{gwi:473454}}

Horrible picture because I realized I didn't have a photo of mine so went out in the dark to snap a shot. But imagine that it is a smaller and more delicate version of B. volubilis.
Genepaul
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the response clematisintegrifolia,
Really nice plant you have. Thank you for taking the trouble to post a photo, however, though similar, the plant I have is much, much more densely branched than the plant in your photo, and though the flowers are of similar size, they are quite green rather than whitish as the ones in the photo appear. Does Schizobasis intricata grow much more densely under other circumstances? Does S. intricata have a tiny, green, scale-like leaf below where each branch comes off? I will post a photo in early summer.
Thanks again, Genepaul

Need held to identify a succulent bulb

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cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5

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Need held to identify a succulent bulb

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cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5

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