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Crocosmia or Chasmanthe?

>From: jtringl@wco.com (James Ringland)
>Subject: Crocosmia or Chasmanthe?
>Sender: owner-medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
>Date: Mon, 24 Feb 1997 05:49:29 GMT
>
> Here is a plant identification question for California or other
> warm-climate gardeners.  There is a very common bulb in bloom right
> now in many of the gardens in my older Oakland, California
> neighborhood.  (This area is Sunset Zone 16: we get no more than a few
> degrees of frost on the coldest winter days.)  The plant has linear
> leaves about 2 feet long and stalks of red-orange tubular flowers to 3
> or 4 feet.  Reading through the Sunset Western Garden Book CD I see
> two choices.  Is this Crocosmia crocosmiiflora (Montbretia) or
> Chasmanthe aethiopica?    <snip>

(too late to be online, but I'm stuck baby-sitting some DB stuff!)

Jim -

Here is something I can definitely speak to.  It is not an uncommon
bit of confusion, especially here in Calif.'s SF East Bay where
these plants are quite common.

Chasmanthe floribunda is the true name of the plant you see in
flower all around town right now (often erroneous called C.
aethiopica).  It can grow from 2-6ft tall, with bright green,
sheathed fans of thin textured leaves, topped by a two-sided spike
of hooked flowers, usually red-orange, but there is a nice, clear
yellow (C. f. 'Ducketii').  The spike is upright, with a sublte
curve over and up at the tip, causing it to lean a bit into the
light.  The flowers are borne on opposite sides of this, and are
tubular, curved or hooked, with an arching, narrow, hood-like top
petal, and 5, recurved, wide spreading lower petals.  Chasmanthe
means 'gaping mouth', refering to the floral structure.

Chasmanthe aethiopica (sometimes called C. bicolor) is smaller, with
a distinctive 'shepards crook' spike (arching over itself like a
candy-cane) and flowers red on the upper side of the tube, and
yellow or greenish on the lower, borne more or less to one side of
the spike.  The lower 5 petals are reduced to almost nothing in this
species.  This is also very common in the East Bay, seeding itself
freely like its cousin.

Both of these bulbs grow in the fall and flower now (early spring),
turning yellow and going completely dormant in our (dry) summer -
i.e. perfectly adapted for naturalization.

Crocosmias vary considerable, but are primarily summer growers,
usually blooming in late summer and fall.  But I've seen some hybrid
strains that bloom and grow almost continually.  They can also vary
in height, flower color, vigor, etc.  Crocosmia 'Lucifer', a popular
hybrid, is quite vigorous and tall, and apparently has some
Chasmanthe blood in it (they must have done some interesting
'forcing' to get them to bloom together!), which likely accounts for
these traits.  I've often had a lot of trouble 'keying out'
Crocosmias.  Instead, I try and keep track of clones I like so that
I might gain access to some stock when the need arises.

Ah, my Database beckons . . .

 Sean A. O'Hara                     sean.ohara@ucop.edu
 710 Jean Street                    http://www.dla.ucop.edu/sao
 Oakland, California  94610-1459    h o r t u l u s   a p t u s
 (510) 987-0577                     'a garden suited to its purpose'
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