A small, bulbous perennial to 10cm tall producing one or two narrow, cylindrical, dark green basal leaves in summer up to 20cm long and a loose head of up to three, cup-shaped white flowers stripped green on the outside fading with age to reddish-brown. Flowers have a strong scent of marzipan.

Albuca humilis is a perennial bulbous plant. It grows from ovoid, white bulbs which, in summer, form few (usually from 2 to 4) narrow, long, green smooth, glabrous leaves. It is a geophyte: this means that, in winter, its leaves dry up and die, leaving the bulb as the only living part. It’s the bulb that, in late winter-spring, form the inflorescence in the plant’s natural environment, and then, in summer, it forms also the leaves. The inflorescence is a corymbous, developing on a 10 centimeters long stem, which bears one to three white-green flowers, with six tepals each. “Tepal” is the botanical term to describe petals of flowers which don’t have any calyx. Normally, flowers have a corolla, which is the definition for the group of coloured petals, and a calyx, which is a green part with green sepals, which are kind of green petals. When there isn’t any chromatic difference between calyx and corolla, petals are called tepals. In the case of Albuca humilis, all the tepals are white with a green stripe on the external side. The tepals are organized in two levels: each level has three tepals. The inner three tepals have a yellow blotch on their point. The flowers have a particular scent, compared sometimes to the scent of marzipan. In its natural environment, the flowering period is in late winter and spring, but in northern temperate climates the plant blossom in summer.

Ships to the US mainland only.
No shipping to PR.

PACKAGE
1 x Starter Plant