Eucomis autumnalis subsp. clavata

This beautiful South African bulb is a short and robust subspecies of the pineapple lily, Eucomis autumnalis. It grows wild in damp grassland, on slopes or at the foot of cliffs in the Drakensberg. It is summer growing and deciduous in winter. Rosettes are moderate in size, with soft wide leaves, with crisped and wavy margins. The inflorescence is club-shaped (= clavata in Latin), stout, about 30 cm tall, with tightly packed yellow-green flowers, topped with a tuft of leaf-bracts, reminiscent of a pineapple. When it blooms, It is a people-stopper, despite of its green colour, and possibly because of it!.

Eucomis autumnalis does well in cultivation and grows both in the ground and in pots, of about 20 cm. It survives frosts down to a limit of -7°C, if kept in well drained soil, as dry as possible.

Please note this is a summer-growing. winter-resting plant and it better resists shipping during its rest. Winter does not exactly mean "winter", as it means "cooler months'', usually spanning from October-November to March-April and Summer means "summer months", starting from May-June to Sept-October. This species should only be disturbed and shipped from from October until March or April. If you order during the growing months, then it is at your own risk, we will do our best but the plant will always suffer a bit. If stressed, it might stop growing and it could enter into rest (depending on the stress and on the species) until the following Spring.