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Wurmbea capensis

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The flower by C. Merry, Redlist.sanbi.org.

Author: Carl Peter Thunberg, 1781
Family:  COLCHICACEAE
Origin:  South West, Cape Province; South Africa
Soil:  Mix
Water:  Minimum - Medium
Sun:  Maximum
Thickness:  3 Centimetres
Height:  5-10 Centimetres
Flower:  Crème
Propagate:  Seeds/Bulbs
Names:  -
Synonyms:  Might be: Wurmbea inusta, Rune Bertil Nordenstam, 1986.
Melanthium monopetalum
Carl Linnaeus Jr. 1782.
Wurmbea truncata
Diederich Franz Leonhard von Schlechtendal, 1826.
Wurmbea monopetala
Rune Bertil Nordenstam, 1986.
Skizima pumila,
Raf.
Wurmbea pumila,
Willd.
Wurmbea remota,
Banks ex Ker-Gawl.
Wurmbea revoluta,
Banks.
Melanthium inustum,
Ker Gawl.
Melanthium pumilum,
Ker Gawl.
Melanthium remotum,
Ker Gawl.
Melanthium revolutum,
Ker Gawl.
Melanthium wurmbeum,
Thunb.

This member of the Colchicaceae family was given this name by Carl Peter Thunberg in 1781. It is found in South and West Cape Province of South Africa, growing in a well drained soil with little to some water and lots of sun. The bulb can grow to three centimetres, the leaves to five to ten centimetres. The flowers are crème coloured.

The genera is named after Friedrick Wilhelm von Wurmb, merchant and botanist in 18th century Batavia (Jakarta). The species mane indicates it was found at the Cape - of South Africa.


Wild plants by Andrew Massyn, Wikimedia.org.