CLIVIA (Cliv'ia)
DESCRIPTION: This group consists of several evergreen plants with bulbous roots. These plants are natives of South Africa and belong to the Amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae. These plants are suitable for growing as houseplants and outdoors in frost-free climates. Clivias, also known as Kaffir Lilies, produce dark green, strap-like leaves, which grow to about 2 feet long. In late winter or spring, tall stalks shoot up from the leaves and bear clusters of 12 to 20, brightly colored blossoms. Their long-lasting flowers are usually orange with yellowish centers, but there are forms that bear scarlet, dark red, salmon, and yellow flowers.
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POTTING: Clivias are fairly easy plants to grow. A division that is potted in a 12-inch container will bloom and multiply abundantly for 10 years or more before it needs to be repotted. Clivias can be grown outdoors year-round in zones 9 and 10. Elsewhere, they can be grown as houseplants or in containers outside and brought in during the winter. Grow Clivias in a well-drained, organic, acid to neutral soil. Fibrous loam, some coarse grit, decayed manure and leaf mold make a good potting mixture. Choose a location with partial to deep shade, as direct sun will cause leaf scorch. The bulbs should be planted in the fall or spring. Cover the plump roots with just a thin layer of soil. The white part of the stem should be almost buried. Clivias need to be watered and fertilized regularly while in active growth. Afterward, water sparingly. If growing Clivias in containers, avoid disturbing them. Try to divide them only when they become overcrowded.
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PROPAGATION: Clivias can be increased by division, or offsets, in late spring or early summer after the plants have flowered. Take care when dividing, so that the thick roots aren't damaged. The seeds take almost a year to ripen, gradually changing from green to dark red. As soon as they are ripe, sow them in a moist potting medium kept at 80º to 85º F.
SPECIES: C. miniata & var. citrina; C. nobilis; C. Gardenii; C. cyrtanthisflora; C. caulescens.
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http://www.clivia.co.nz/http://www.shieldsgardens.com/clivia/CliviaSources.htmlhttp://www.stokestropicals.com/ekart/index.asp?cn=plants&cid=922http://www.clivia.co.za/clivia.htmlhttp://users.iafrica.com/c/cl/clivia/http://www.gardenguides.com/articles/clivia.htmhttp://www.clivianet.org/CliviaNet.htmlhttp://www.ilsham.demon.co.uk/clivia.htmlhttp://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/facts/1998/garden/clivea_37.htmlClivia
Brian Baldwin
Anyone who has ever tried growing lawn under a spruce tree will know that the dry shade under a tree inhibits almost all forms of plant life. As a general rule, most plants that are suited for shade usually require a constant moisture supply, and plants that are well suited to drought require full sunlight. One of the few exceptions to this rule, is a house plant known as a clivia, or kafir lily. Unlike many other plants, clivias survive in bright or dim light, in soil that is moist or dry. The ability of these plants to survive under conditions unsuitable for most other plants makes them remarkably tough house plants, and ideal candidates for growing in those locations where few other plants seem to thrive.
The clivia is native to forest floors of southern Africa. From Africa, it was brought to England in 1854, where it was named to honour Lady Charlotte Clive, Dutchess of Northumberland. Because of the plant's natural ability to survive on shaded forest floors, it quickly gained popularity as a plant well suited to the large shadowy parlours of Victorian homes.
As a member of the amaryllis family, clivias shares many common characteristics with the more familiar amaryllis. Like the amaryllis, the leaves of a clivia are strongly two-ranked. This means the long strap-shaped leaves arise from the soil, directly opposite one another in an alternating sequence. Because the leaves are produced in an alternating sequence and they arch directly over one another, a mature clivia plant will develop a strikingly formal silhouette with almost perfect symmetry, forming what looks like a large flattened vase.
Another unique feature of clivia leaves is the rare example they provide for students of botany to observe a mid-way point in the evolution of a bulb. Students are often somewhat sceptical when they are first told that a tulip, onion or amaryllis bulb is actually composed of fleshy leaves which tightly clasp the stem of a plant. While a clivia plant does not have a true bulb, the swollen clasping leaf bases of a mature clivia plant quite clearly demonstrate an incomplete development of a dense bulb- like structure, with roots emerging from the base, and leaves emerging from the crown. This same relationship can be seen by comparing a leek with an onion. The leaf bases of a leek clasp one another in the same way they do on an onion, but the leaves of a leek have not become swollen to produce a bulb.
Clivia roots are thick, fleshy and well-equipped for water storage. On a mature specimen the swollen mass of roots often becomes so large that it will completely fill the pot, forcing the growing medium up and over the container's edge. Only when this begins to happen should a clivia plant be moved to a larger pot. In general, the plants do best when their roots are somewhat constricted by a small pot, so it is best to resist the temptation to place the plant in a pot much larger than the one you are moving it from.
The fleshiness of the roots is a very valuable characteristic for water storage, granting the plant a remarkable level of drought resistance. The extent of this drought resistance was once clearly demonstrated to me when I was repotting a clivia. After having removed all traces of soil from the root ball, a distraction caused me to leave the bare-rooted clivia sitting forgotten in a warm and brightly-lit room for a full week. When the forgotten plant was finally discovered, it had hardly begun to show signs of wilt. After being returned to a pot and watered, the plant resumed growth with no obvious signs of its ordeal. While a stress test such as this is hardly recommended for any plant, it clearly demonstrates the ability of these plants to survive under conditions which would kill most other house plants.
For best results, clivias should be grown in bright diffused light, with the growing medium kept evenly moist during spring and summer. If the plants are allowed to become quite dry for two months in winter, and the growing temperature is lowered to approximately 10 - 15°C, the plants can also be encouraged to flower. Clivia flowers are orange, lily-like, and produced in crowded clusters on top of a thick stem. Once a flower stem has begun to emerge, watering can be increased, and plants moved to a location with normal growing temperatures. In some cases, a mature plant will attempt to flowers even when no rest period has been provided. Flowers produced by such plants are seldom successful, however, because without the proper rest period, the flowering stalk often fails to elongate, leaving the cluster of flowers compressed between the leaves near the base of the plant. Where clivia plants are grown in low light conditions, they will rarely flower, but will serve as reliable foliage plants.
Propagation of a clivia is accomplished almost exclusively by separation of offsets. After three or four years, a plant will have reached maturity. At this point, it will usually begin producing one or more offsets each year. When an individual offset has developed three or four leaves of its own, it can be cut from the parent plant, being careful to include some roots, and placed in small pots of its own. Clivia plants tend to be long lived, with individual plants surviving ten, twenty or even more years.
© 1996 Brian Baldwin
[ June 09, 2002, 03:44 AM: Message edited by: Edward F Sutton ]
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