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Wachendorfia thyrsiflora
Also called Red Root, Rocket Butterflylily, Thirsty Bloodroot
Wachendorfia thyrsiflora is a large evergreen perennial from the Cape region of South Africa, growing 0.6 to 2.5 m tall with golden yellow flowers in dense spikes. It thrives in moist soil in full sun or light shade.
Wachendorfia thyrsiflora, the marsh butterfly lily, is a plant species of 0.6–2.5 m (2.0–8.2 ft) high when flowering, that has been assigned to the bloodroot family. It is a large to very large evergreen perennial plant with an underground rootstock with clusters of roots produced at the nodes. The rootstock has a distinctive red colour that results from so-called arylphenalenone pigments. The sturdy, entire and broadly sword-shaped leaves have laterally flattened and pleated leaf blades. The golden yellow flowers are set a dense cylindrical panicle on a tall firm stalk. Flowering occurs from spring until mid-summer.
The marsh butterfly lily is easy to grow and particularly suited for moist conditions in the full sun or light shade. The plant behaves as an evergreen if water remains available year round, but will become dormant in summer if it dries out. It grows rapidly and will continue flowering well without replanting for several years. The species does not survive severe frosts, but will certainly allow −1 °C (30 °F), possibly even −7 °C (19 °F) when in a sheltered position. No pests or diseases of this species are known. Wachendorfia thyrsiflora can be propagated both from seed and through dividing the rootstock. Seeds can best be sown during the autumn, in deep seedling mix, keeping them permanently moist. Seedlings should be ready to transplant in three years. Flowers may be expected from their fourth year. Large plants can best be divided after flowering in the early summer and replanted immediately.
The marsh butterfly lily can be found from the Olifants River Valley somewhere between Clanwilliam and Citrusdal in the Western Cape, southwards to the Cape Peninsula, as far as the Franschhoek Mountains inland, and eastwards along the south coast to Humansdorp in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Like in all species of Wachendorfia, the flowers of the marsh butterfly lily are enantiomorphic. This means that the style is sometimes sharply deflected to the right, while in other plants it is bent to the left. In both morphs one of the three stamens is deflected to the same side as the style, whereas the remaining two curve in the opposite direction. This is thought to be a mechanism that enhances crosspollination and so boost genetic diversity. The anthers and stigma however are so far from the source of the nectar at the merged bases of the three upper tepals, that smaller insects, including honey bees cannot be effective pollinators. Pollinators of an adequate size, such as carpenter bees are seldom seen visiting butterfly lilies.
Shortanther Bloodroot · Brown Butterflylily · Wachendorfia paniculata · Blood Root
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Wachendorfia thyrsiflora 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.
