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| Category: Bulb/Tuber/Rhizome etc. |
| Family: Amaryllidaceae (Onions) |
| Origin: South Africa (Africa) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: White |
| Bloomtime: Spring/Summer |
| Fragrant Flowers: Yes |
| Height: 1-2 feet |
| Width: 1-2 feet |
| Exposure: Light Shade/Part Sun |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): High Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 25-30° F |
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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. This plant 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.
This information about Cryptostephanus vansonii displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate 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 that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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