HIGHLIGHT |
|
NerineCommon Name: Nerine Most nerines are tender greenhouse bulbs, but N. bowdenii is the nearest to being hardy, and well worth planting outdoors in a warm sunny border backed by the shelter of a wall. They are South African bulbs, widely planted in warmer areas for their very late display of rich flowers like elegant pink lilies. In colder parks, give them all the sun and shelter available, plant in bold groups and be prepared to protect them over winter. Established bulbs gradually become overcrowded and force their way to the surface, an indication that late summer division may be needed. The Royal Horticultural Society have given it their prestigious Award of Garden Merit. Derivation of name and historical aspectsThere is a legend that a consignment of Nerine plants destined for Holland, washed up on the shores of Guernsey in the Channels Islands in 1659 as a result of a Dutch or English shipwreck and apparently these plants flourished there. Actually, the plant was originally thought to have been a native to Japan! However, it was Francis Masson who was credited with the discovery of the real native habitat of N. sarniensis (another Cape species) on Table Mountain during his expedition to the Cape in 1772. It was the cleric and amaryllid expert, Rev. William Herbert (1778-1847) son of Henry Herbert, Earl of Carnavon, who first established the genus Nerine in 1820. It is unclear whether he named it for Nerine, the Greek mythological sea nymph and daughter of sea god Nereis and Doris, or for Nereide the daughter of Nereus, son of Oceanus. By 1821, Herbert recognized nine species of Nerine, and was also the first to work in the field of hybridizing this horticulturally important genus. The family name Amaryllidaceae is from Amaryllus who was a pretty shepherdess mentioned by Theocritus, Virgil and Ovid. Edmund Spenser used the name in 1595 for Alice, an ancestress of the Princess of Wales. The species name humilis refers to the low-growing nature of most forms of this species. The genus Nerine currently consists of 25 species and is closely related to another endemic, southern African genus Brunsvigia. There are mainly three groups of nerines, namely winter-growing, summer-growing and evergreen species. Other noteworthy members in this family are Amaryllis belladonna, Boophane, Cyrtanthus, and Haemanthus. |
|
Other Highlights: |
