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Cryptostephanus vansonii - An evergreen plant with 12 to 18 inch long slightly arching narrow dark green strap-shaped leaves that forms small open clumps. In late spring into summer, and sometimes at other times, appear long-lasting lightly fragrant small white, later blushed pink, flowers with a light yellow center and delicately flared 1/2-inch-long petals that sit in umbels atop 15 inch tall stalks. The flowers are followed by first green, and then red fruit; and, since flowers open over a long period, both color fruit are usually present and sometimes are accompanied by a second inflorescence bearing flowers.
Plant in a well-drained soil in morning sun or light shade and irrigate regularly (every couple weeks). We are not sure how hardy this plant is, but our stock plants went through the January 2007 cold snap (25° F) but were somewhat protected under the canopy of a large live oak. This uncommon plant seems to do best in a container or raised planter with bright light. It is one of the closest relatives of Clivia - so close that originally it was thought that bigeneric hybrids might be used to create the illusive pure white or even purple-colored flowers in Clivia but as far as we know plants of these two genera have not crossed.
Cryptostephanus vansonii naturally inhabits the understory of forested areas at higher elevations in the Bvumba and Chimanimani Mountains of the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe (what used to be called Rhodesia) and possibly east into adjacent areas of Mozambique, where it grows in leaf litter or lithophytically on top of rocks. The name for the genus comes from the Greek word 'crypt' meaning "hidden" and 'stephanos' meaning "that which surrounds" or "a crown" in reference to the small, nearly hidden, corona at the top of the floral tube of the flower. The specific epithet honors a Mr. Georges van Son (1898-1967), an entomologist at the Transvaal Museum who first flowered a collected specimen in his Pretoria garden even before Frans Verdoorn (1906-1984), the Dutch born Arnold Arboretum (Harvard University) botanist, described the species in 1943. We first saw this plant at the first US Clivia Symposium held at the Huntington Garden in 2001 but seed and a stop plant was first provided to us in 2007 by Clivia collector Glynne Couvillion.
The information displayed on this page about Cryptostephanus vansonii is based on the research we have conducted about it in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about this plant as it grows in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant have performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we have received from others and welcome hearing from anyone with information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information that will aid others to better grow it.
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