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Boophone disticha (Oxbane) - A large deciduous solitary bulb that can grow to about 7 inches in diameter with a thick covering of dry scales above the ground and blunt gray leaves that can reach to 20 inches tall and have wavy undulating edges. The inflorescence, which appears on older plants in late winter or spring, often when the plant is leafless, is composed of an umbel of many pink to red funnel-shaped flowers.
Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil and water little to regularly while in leaf. It is best to protect this plant from frost though we did not experience damage on our plants in the January 2007 cold snap where temperatures dipped to 25° F three nights in a row. This plant is quite poisonous, and care should be given not to let animals browse it.
Boophone disticha can be found in a wide range of South Africa from the drier southwest to the more tropical East Africa. Though this plant is most often listed as Boophane, it is noted in “The Color Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs” by John Manning, Peter Goldblatt and Dee Snjman (Timber Press 2002) that the spelling of this plant's name has caused much confusion and that Boophone has been formally proposed as the correct form. The name comes from the Greek 'bous' meaning "ox", and 'phone' meaning "death" and is in reference to the poisonous properties of this bulb. The specific epithet 'disticha' is for the two-ranked leaves displayed in a fan-like formation. Other common names for this plant are Bushman poison bulb, Candelabra flower, Cape poison bulb, Century plant, Fan leaved boophone, Kaffir onion, Poison bulb, Red posy, Sore eye flower, Veld fan, Windball, Fireball, Oxkiller fan, Tumbleweed. The names Windball and Tumbleweed are in reference to the dried inflorescence that can tumble about while dispersing seed and the sore-eye flower name alludes to the thought that a person exposed within a confined area to the open flowers may get sore eyes or a headache. We grew this plant from 2007 until 2023. Our first plants were grown from seed purchased from Silverhill Seed in South Africa with later crops grown from mature bulbs sourced from Cycadia Nursery that were construction area rescue plants from South Africa. Subsequent crops were grown from seed collected from these plants.
The information about Boophone disticha displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant. |
