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Scadoxus pole-evansii
Scadoxus pole-evansii, commonly known as the Inyanga fireball, is a herbaceous plant endemic to mountains in east Zimbabwe. It was only discovered for science in 1960. Similar in many respects to the more widely grown Scadoxus multiflorus, it is cultivated as an ornamental plant.
Material of Scadoxus pole-evansii was sent to England at the time of its discovery. It first flowered there in January 1963, at the RHS Garden, Wisley. The species was given the RHS Award of Merit in July 1969.
In cultivation it requires similar conditions to the other tropical species of Scadoxus with a minimum temperature of 10 °C (50 °F) or more and an open, humus-rich growing medium. In the northern hemisphere it begins to grow in the summer, continues throughout the winter, and becomes dormant in the early spring. Pests are those of Scadoxus generally.
The genus Scadoxus is known to have some strongly toxic species, containing poisonous alkaloids. These are lethal to animals, such as sheep and goats, that graze on the plants. Other species of Scadoxus have been used in parts of tropical Africa as components of arrow poisons and fishing poisons.
Scadoxus pole-evansii is endemic to the Nyanga region of east Zimbabwe. It grows in afromontane forest at 1,600–2,000 m (5,200–6,600 ft) in soil which is very open and humus-rich.
Forest Fireball Lily · Rwenzori Bloodlily · Scadoxus longifolius · Dwarf Paintbrush Lily · Bloodlily · Scadoxus nutans · Scadoxus pseudocaulus · Royal Paintbrush · Bloodlilies
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Scadoxus pole-evansii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
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.
