San Marcos Growers LogoSan Marcos Growers
Home Products Purchase Gardens About Us Resources Contact Us
Nursery Closure
Search Utilities
Plant Database
Search Plant Name
Detail Search Avanced Search Go Button
Search by size, origins,
details, cultural needs
Website Search Search Website GO button
Search for any word
Site Map
Retail Locator
Plant Listings

PLANT TYPE
PLANT GEOGRAPHY
PLANT INDEX
ALL PLANT LIST
PLANT IMAGE INDEX
PLANT INTROS
SPECIALTY CROPS
SMG NEW PLANTS

LIVE AVAILABILITY
  for AUGUST


Natives at San Marcos Growers
Succulents at San Marcos Growers
 Weather Station

 
Products > Drimiopsis maculata
 
Drimiopsis maculata - Little White Soldiers

Note: This plant is no longer in stock. This is an archive page preserved for informational use.  
Image of Drimiopsis maculata
[2nd Image]
Habit and Cultural Information
Category: Bulb/Tuber/Rhizome etc.
Family: Hyacinthaceae (~Amaryllidaceae)
Origin: South Africa (Africa)
Bloomtime: Spring
Synonyms: [Scilla schlechteri, Ledebouria petiolata]
Height: <1 foot
Width: <1 foot
Exposure: Light Shade/Part Sun
Irrigation (H2O Info): Medium Water Needs
Winter Hardiness: 20-25° F
Drimiopsis maculata (Little White Soldiers) - Deciduous bulb from South Africa that is related to Ornithogalum with flat somewhat fleshy oblong-ovate leaves that have darker translucent spots. The flower stalk rises 6 to 12 inches above the foliage bearing a tight cluster of small bright white flower buds that open and turn to a pale green.

Plant in light shade, in a well-draining soil and irrigate moderately. Will multiply in the garden to form clumps that should be divided every few years. Although not hardy as an evergreen to hard frosts, this plant can be grown in cooler climates because it is winter deciduous. It is often recommended to USDA zones 8-10 but we have been told by Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery that it has withstood 6° F for him and should be considered good to Zone 7b. An attractive plant in the garden when used in mass or in pockets within a rock garden and also makes a charming container plant.

The name Drimiopsis means looking like plants in the genus Drimia, a related plant once put in the Hyacinthaceae but now in the Asparagaceae that gets its name from the Greek word for acrid in reference to the roots causing an inflammation of the skin. In a recent treatment of this genus by J. Manning, P. Goldblatt & M.F. Fay in " Revised Generic Synopsis of Hyacinthaceae in Sub-Saharan Africa" in the Edinburgh Journal of Botany 60(3): 533-568 (2004) the authors propose that the genus Drimia be sunk into the closely related Ledebouria.

We grew this charming plant from 1999 until 2014. 

The information displayed on this page about Drimiopsis maculata is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.

 
We closed for regular business at the end of 2025 in order for the property to be developed for affordable housing.
Our gates remain closed but we will open them by appointment to interested parties through August 21st to liquidate remaining plants, supplies and equipment.
The plants remaining in the field are listed on our
Live Inventory Page.
 
  [MORE INFO]