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Lachenalia aloides
Also called Threetone Viooltjie
Lachenalia aloides, the Cape cowslip, is a winter- and spring-flowering bulb from the Western Cape of South Africa, with spotted strap-shaped leaves and pendent yellow flowers tipped red. Grow it from bulbs in a sheltered, frost-free spot or under glass, and rest it in summer.
Lachenalia aloides (opal flower) is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to the Western Cape of South Africa. It is a bulbous perennial growing to 15–28 cm (6–11 in) tall by 5 cm (2 in) broad, with strap-shaped spotted leaves and fleshy stems bearing pendent tubular yellow flowers, red at the tips, in winter and spring. The Latin aloides literally means "aloe-like"; though L. aloides, despite its similarity, does not belong to the same family of plants as aloes.
Numerous cultivars have been bred for garden use. They require a sheltered, frost-free position or under glass. The following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:
Red Lachenalia · Corymb Polyxena · Crown Polyxena · Yellow Viooltjie · Long Polyxena · Orchid Viooltjie · Fourtone Viooltjie · Milk Viooltjie · Azure Viooltjie · Cape Cowslips
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Lachenalia aloides 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.
