Tags
bulb, Flowers, garden, Lily Bulb, Paintbrush, Paintbrush lily, Scadoxus puniceus, South African endemic plant, Sunbirds
Paintbrush Lily Bulb shooting
Paintbrush 10 days further on
Flowers forming
Close up of flower
The Paintbrush Lily (Scadoxis puniceus) is one of South Africa’s most spectacular bulbous plants.
The large underground bulbs may be up to 10cm across and have a short thick stem at the base from which numerous fleshy roots arise. The plants are dormant in winter and use the large bulbs and roots to store moisture during this period.
In spring and early summer the Scadoxus puniceus bears large dense heads (inflorescences) up to 15cm across consisting of numerous smaller scarlet flowers with bright yellow anthers. The flower stalk may reach up to 50-60cm and is often spotted with purple near the base. The inflorescences are borne within bracts which may be large and dark purplish red in colour. Sunbirds, weavers and other nectivorous birds feed on the nectar produced by the flowers.
Wow, this is extraordinary. I showed my husband and he was duly impressed too.
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thank you Crazy 🙂 They are amazing 🙂
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What a grand flower!
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Thanks 🙂 Spectacular!
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Wow, what a glorious flower! I bet the birds and insects love it!
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thanks Julie, the Sunbirds adore it 🙂
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A pretty amazing flower,…waw even!
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thanks Sophie 🙂
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I’m amazed, I must say. Rarely do I encounter a blog that’s equally educative and engaging, and let
me tell you, you’ve hit the nail on the head. The issue is something too few folks are speaking intelligently about.
I’m very happy I stumbled across this during my hunt for something
relating to this.
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