Clivia Genus
In September 1815 the first scientific collection of a clivia was made near the mouth of the Great Fish River in the Eastern Cape Province by the intrepid explorer and naturalist William Burchell. Similar plants were collected from the same area a few years later in the early 1820’s by James Bowie and sent to England, where in 1828 Kew botanist John Lindley described them as Clivia nobilis in honour of Lady Charlotte Florentine Clive, Duchess of Northumberland.
Clivia is part of the Amaryllid family (Amaryllidaceae; Haemantheae).
There are at present six described species of Clivia:
Species Comparison Chart
| C. mirabilis | C. nobilis | C. robusta | C. gardenii | C.caulescens | C. miniata | |
| Date described | 2002 | 1828 | 2004 | 1856 | 1954 | 1854 |
| Distribution | W escarpment | SE coast | E coast | E escarpment | NE escarpment | E escarpment |
| Habitat | Arid humic sandstone scree | Sandstone slopes to coastal sand dunes | Swamp forest in wet sand, drainage at cliff ledges | Humic scree on sandstone | Epiphytic on sandstone / trees in moss, humus on sandstone | Humic scree on sandstone, rhyolites, dolerite |
| Flowering time | October to mid-November (late Spring) | August to January (Spring – Summer) | late March – early August (Autumn – Winter) | May to July (late Autumn to mid-Winter) | September to November (Spring) | August to November (Spring – early Summer) |
| Peduncle colour | ? | Green | Reddish then green | Reddish then green | Green | Green |
| Perianth shape | pendulous tubular | pendulous tubular | pendulous tubular | pendulous tubular | pendulous tubular | upright trumpet |
| Perianth width | 11 mm | 10 mm | 50-70mm | |||
| Perianth length | 25-40mm | 40-70mm | 35 mm | |||
| Flower colour | Bicoloured orange/yellow turning orange-red with age, with green tips fading as it opens | Dark orange with green tips, but varies from pinkish yellow to dark red | Orange-red with green tips | Orange-red with pronounced green tips; but varies from yellow to brownish red | Orange-red with green tips | Orange with white or yellow throat; but varies from almost white through yellow to dark red |
| No of flowers | 20-48 | 20-50 | 15-40 | 10-20 | 14-50 | 10-40 |
| Stigma & style | Not exserted | protruding 6 mm | Exserted > 7mm | protruding 6mm | various | |
| Fruit shape | Irregular glebulose-gongyloid | Round to teardrop | Round | Round to oblong | Round | Round to pointed, slightly irregular |
| Fruit ripens | February – April 4-7months |
winter 9months |
|
winter 15months |
winter 6months |
winter 9months |
| Ovary colour | Orange-red then green | Sometimes red then green | Rarely red then green | |||
| No. of seed in fruit | (1)2-4 (-7)* |
1-2(-6) | 1-2(-4) | 1-2 | 1-4 | 1-4 (-25) |
| Seed size | ±10mm | ±9(6-1)mm | 10-18mm | 9-18m | ±12(9-13)mm | ±12 mm |
| Seed membrane colour | colourless | purplish red | colourless | colourless | colourless | colourless, rarely reddish |
| Seed radicle |
|
radicle produced by the germinating seed is very thin, about 1.5 mm thick | 3 mm | 3 mm | 3 mm | |
| Stem | non-aerial | non-aerial | aerial to 450 mm with buttress roots when growing in swampy conditions | non-aerial | aerial, up to 3 m in mature specimens | slightly aerial with age |
| Leaf length (mm) | 600-1200 | 300-800 | 300-1200 | 350-900 | 300-600 | 400-900 |
| Leaf width (mm) | 30-50 | 25-50 | 30-90 | 25-60 | 35-70 | 25-70 |
| Leaf median stripe | Pronounced | Moderate to weak | Weak to none | None | None | None |
| Leaf substance | Stiff | Stiff | Soft | Soft | Soft | Soft |
| Leaf texture | Rough | Slightly rough to smooth | Smooth | Smooth | Smooth | Smooth |
| Leaf margin | Smooth | Rough | Smooth | Smooth | Smooth | Smooth |
| Leaf apex | Rounded point | Indented | Rounded | Pointed | Pointed | Pointed |
| Leaf base | Pigmented purple red | Non-pigmented | Non-pigmented | Non-pigmented | Pigmented red to non-pigmented | Non-pigmented |
*Explanation: minimum 1 seed, 2 to 4 on average, 7 maximum