Gethyllis species

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The genus Gethyllis is one of my personal favorites, probably because I have not to date been very successful with it. It may be that Zone 17 per se with its high humidity and moderate temperatures is just a bit worse for these plants than say Zone 15 over the East Bay hills in Contra Costa County. There I have seen it put on displays that were amazing.

Right now, I'd bet you're wondering what is in this picture and why I put it up here. Well, to continue the Amaryllid life-cycle theme, this is the first sign of life produced by a Gethyllis bulb after the long, dry summer. These bulbs are just as weird as the Brunsvigias and Haemanthus, but instead of hysteranthy, they are guilty of proteranthy This means that instead of the leaves appearing after the flowers, they appear before. Stranger still is the fact that after fertilization comes the dormant period. So, what we see above is what happens after the first rains of the fall. The fruits of the plants that were hidden underground come popping up like mushrooms. The fruit itself is bizarre. It consists of a fleshy tube filled with an extremely sweet-smelling liquid with the small seeds floating inside. If you look closely in the photo, you should be able to see the seeds floating inside the fruit. In South Africa, these fruits are gathered and used to flavour a liqueur.

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