Boophone distichia flowers - an irritant?

[Chad]

Wonderful.

And the indelicate questions:

Where did it come from?

How long have you grown it?

Was it expensive?

Will it set seed?

Chad

[ian s]

I got it from mama_cactus, an Italian seller on ebay in November 2020.
It had been in a 20cm pot but was sent bare root, I remember it stank to high heaven when I unpacked it, it was like a sack of crown imperial bulbs and took a over a week to clear. I was concerned that the bulb was soft too but I emailed a couple of South African nurseries and they said the softness wasn’t a cause for concern but they couldn’t explain the smell.
Expensive? Yes I suppose it was, £55 plus £16 p&p is a lot for one bulb :shock: :shock: :shock: At the time there were a lot of small spring onion sized bulbs available from various sellers (including UK sellers) but I decided to splash out on a bigger one because they’re so slow growing.
Will it set seed - I’ve been using a soft brush to transfer pollen between the flowers but don’t know if that’ll work, I’ll have to wait and see.
Edit - I’ve just noticed the spelling mistake in the title but don’t seem to be able to change it to disticha on my phone.

[ian s]

The flowers are drying up now and I’m not sure but it looks like they’re elongating and some are starting to bulge where the seeds form?

[ian s]

It’s now about 18” across and leaves are starting to emerge, just about visible on the right of the flower stalk. I don’t know if it’ll have any viable seeds yet, time will tell.

[Chad]

Exciting even in senescence. 

It is clearly preparing to be a tumbleweed.

Let's hope for lots of seed.

Chad

[ian s]

It’s getting bigger and the dead flowers still have some scent but I’m wondering if there’s any seeds because the pods feel hollow and empty.

[Chad]

Alas, unless they swell as they dry out, I fear you are correct.

Pictures, including spherical seed within the pods, here.

Chad

[LostInJapan]

Indeed a beautiful thing, the leaves included. I think I've seen a few here in Japan, but I can't remember where. I wouldn't take this plant for a headache myself given the host of toxic alkaloids in contains - first you trip, then you may die!

[ian s]

I didn’t think there were any seeds but as the flower is drying out I can see a few partly swollen pods with greenish bumps, maybe a dozen or so amongst the empty ones.

[ian s]

The seed pods felt dry and crunchy so I picked through them. Not what I was expecting as I thought they came in threes and each ‘viable’ pod only appears to contain a single seed.