Thursday, July 17, 2008

Pretty picture: Belamcanda chinensis

Sometimes it's almost a little tedious, even, how there's always something new to learn at work. Like for example this guy, Belamcanda chinensis, which I'd never heard of before. I guess it goes by the common name "blackberry lily?"


I was very impressed with this when I saw it the first time, which is why I took the picture. Looking at it now, I'm not sure what impressed me so; whatever it was didn't actually transfer to the picture very well. Possibly it's just neat that it exists at all. We had it among the daylilies, with their gigantic eight-inch blow-out-type bloom extravaganzas (pictures coming in a post sooner or later), and then to look in and see this little two-inch flower, with the spots and the different shades of red and orange, was just . . . I don't know. It was neat somehow. Words fail.

We have a yellow version too, which lacks spots, isn't as vivid of a color, and is just sort of all-around less dramatic. Also one that's sort of purple and yellow, I think: it sounds neater than it is. You're not missing anything.


2 comments:

emmat said...

I love your blog, so I'm sending you an arte y pico - maybe it will cheer you up a tiny bit after a rubbish-sounding week!

http://blogs.independent.co.uk/independent/2008/07/a-nice-green--5.html#more

Anonymous said...

The other color types you mentioned may actually be Pardancanda (aka Candy Lily -- a bigeneric cross of Belamcanda chinensis x Pardanthopsis dichotoma). Either way I like them. :)

Oh and the common name "blackberry lily" comes from the seeds. When a ripen pod splits open, the large black seeds are clustered together forming what looks like -- surprise surprise -- a blackberry.