Doryanthes palmeri, “giant spear lily” I have been watching this large flower stalk grow for more than a month now but quite honestly it did not intrigue me enough to dig deeper. However today I saw the first sign of color just beginning at the base of the flower stalk. The trigger to investigate! The flower stalk is over 6’ high and will explode with color over the next few weeks. A native of eastern Australia, it is disappearing fast there due to habitat destruction. Here in the U.S. it is rarely seen for sale. In the right environment, its an easy-to-grow plant - and an amazing conversation piece! We received this one as a donation from a member in Laguna Beach about 5 years ago. Since this plant can take up to 12 years to bloom, and never has before, we are estimating this one to be about 10-12 years old, just entering its teen years. This plant does its best in full sun but it will tolerate some shade. It is drought tolerant!!, but they look best in a good deep soil with some irrigation. It is hardy to about 25-30 degrees F The name for the genus comes from a combination of the Greek words doratos which means a spear and anthos meaning flower in reference to the long spear shaped inflorescence of Doryanthes excelsa. It was given this name in 1802 by the Portuguese priest, statesman, philosopher and botanist José Francisco Correia de Serra (1750–1823), who was a close friend of Sir Joseph Banks. Walter Hill, the Colonial Botanist and Director of the Botanic Gardens at Brisbane. This plant is located at the beginning of Fern & Cycad alley right outside the Café Jardin restrooms. Stop by and check it out over the next couple weeks. The last photo of the plant fully in bloom is not from our gardens. I wanted to let you see what we can expect.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 16:55:00 +0000
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