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Eucomis comosa
Crown pineapple lily is a deciduous bulbous perennial from South Africa, grown for its spikes of white to purple flowers topped by a leafy head. It needs full sun, good drainage and a sheltered spot, with winter mulch where frost occurs.
Eucomis comosa, the pineapple flower, pineapple lily or wine eucomis, is a species of flowering plant in the asparagus family Asparagaceae (subfamily Scilloideae). A deciduous bulbous perennial used as an ornamental plant, it is endemic to South Africa. The white to purple flowers appear in summer and are arranged in a spike (raceme), topped by a "head" of green leaflike bracts.
Eucomis comosa is an ornamental plant with numerous cultivars, varying in colour from forms with white flowers and little or no purple on the leaves, to forms with deeply coloured leaves. Described as "surprisingly hardy" in the UK, down to −5 or −10 °C (23 or 14 °F), it needs a sheltered spot in full sun, and a protective mulch in winter when grown where frosts occur. In the UK, the compact cultivar 'Leia' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Eucomis comosa is native to the east Cape Provinces and the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It is found in rocky ground at elevations of around 1,600 m (5,200 ft).
Autumn Pineapple Lily · Pied Pineapple Lily · Giant Pineapple Lily · Crinkle Leaf Pineapple Lily
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Eucomis comosa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
