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Re: Strange plant-- Help ID?
David Poole wrote:
>
> The more I look at Marks query and look at the specimen in my garden,
> the more I'm convinced it is Beschorneria yuccoides. It closely
> resembles a lax growing Yucca, although you only have to handle the
> leaves to realise they are soft textured and marginally succulent.
> The red flower spike and bracts certainly fall in line with Marc's
> description and its borderline hardiness in cool areas also points
> strongly to this species.
>
David
>From your description, I think it must be either Beschorneria or
Doryanthes. These are superficially quite alike, but the leaves in B
have a distinctly greyish cast, while in both species of D they are an
ordinary light, slightly yellowish green.
The inflorescences, though are quite distinctive, with D.excelsa having
a rounded cluster of red flowers on top if a long thin stalk, while
D.palmeri has a longer, also red, flower cluster, but also with a
distinct stalk.
Beschorneria, in contrast has bright reddish pink bracts (sort of best
tinned salmon) from top to bottom and no bare base to the flower stalk.
In both species of Doryanthes the leaves are said to be more frost
resistant than the inflorescence. My information comes from two
different sources, so it is a bit difficult to compare hardiness, but I
would say that Beschorneria is likely to be the more hardy. I have seen
Both Beschornaria and D palmeri growing in the main Hutt Valley (but
not Wainuiomata up in the hills). I guess their minium temps would
extremely rarely be lower than -3 C while ours can ocassionally strike
-6 C
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
(SW Corner of the Pacific Ocean)
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