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A South African species that seems to flower in a flash of orange and be gone. I haven't had it for all that long, so it may perform better in a typical season -
the rain this year battered it down to the ground, and that was it for the year. I obtained it as "T. laxiflora" but I think that was an unfortunate mistake. There are a number of very similar orange flowered Tritonia in circulation, and the differences are minute, however I think this is now correctly named. The Pacific Bulb Society says: "Tritonia laxifolia (Klatt) Baker is found on grassy slopes from the Eastern Cape to southern Tanzania. It grows from 20 to 40 cm and has long tubed reddish to orange flowers that face to one side. The lower tepals have a yellow tooth-like callus. It blooms in the fall. It is very similar to Tritonia securigera but flowers at a different time, has smaller flowers and a white throat with slender dark lines." Annie's Annuals say (quoted on Plant Lust): "A gentler relation of the flame Freesias with 1.75” soft red to orange flowers. Unlike the better-known Winter/Spring Tritonias, its original habitat in the Eastern Cape of South Africa into Tanzania has Summer rain. There it grows during the Summer & blooms in the Fall but here at our nursery, it has shown a wider range; it blooms in the Spring & goes Summer deciduous if water is withheld. If you water it during the Summer, it will be a Fall bloomer. Perhaps it is the confusion of switching hemispheres?" |
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| 1st June 2006 | ||
