Boophone distichia flowers - an irritant?

[ian s]

This is starting to flower for the first time and apparently they can cause sore eyes - has anyone had this problem? I'm just wondering if it's advisable to move it from the conservatory to the greenhouse when they open.

[Chad]

How very interesting.

A lot of unreferenced sources say, usually in the same words:  flowers can cause eye irritation and headaches in confined spaces.

The only reference that I can find with a bit more information is an article that says:
 When well-known botanical artist Dr Auriol Batten used a fresh specimen
to copy from she developed a headache, drowsiness and sore eyes.

Google Scholar gives references to non-volatile poisons extracted from the bulb, but none to volatile compounds to give sore eyes.

Could its 'name' of 'sore eye flower', which is not attested in native languages as far as I can tell, all stem from this one episode?  The 'sore eye name' is found in Afrikaans [Seerooglelie] and English.

For what it is worth the scent seems to be based on vanillin which in high concentration can cause a headache, but I have never met a headache with it from a natural source, only when I was using it as developing agent on chromatography plates when I was a bench chemist before starting university.

From what I can find, the problem seems to be specific to 'confined spaces' so unless the conservatory is 'closed' it shouldn't be a problem, and I would only move the bulb out if the problem arises.

Chad

[ian s]

Thanks for the info Chad, the conservatory isn’t very well sealed so looks like the flower shouldn’t cause any problems - just as well really because the gravel/clay granule mix it’s in is really heavy especially when it’s wet so it’s not easily moved.

[Chad]

Please could we have a follow up picture of it in flower?

And an update on any headaches.

Chad

[ian s]

It looks like it’s starting to open up a bit, I’ll add another picture as it changes.

[ian s]

It’s started opening but I can’t detect much of a scent, possibly because all the windows and doors are open.

[Chad]

Wonderfuly crisp picture.

Keep them coming.

Chad

[ian s]

The photos are taken on my phone and I assume the strong sunlight made the last one sharp?
I’ve just taken a these as it looks like more flowers are opening.
I kept all the doors and windows closed overnight but didn’t notice much of a smell in the morning, however sniffing the flowers reveals them to have a very pleasant and unusual scent. My wife reckons it’s something like lemons or fresh rhubarb and I’d say it’s not floral or sweet and definitely not like honey as I’ve read it described as but reminds me of something like the crushed leaves of a lemon mint. It’s times like this when I wish I had a better sense of smell!

[ian s]

Now pretty much fully open and about 22cm across. The fragrance is really strong now and fills the ground floor overnight such that you can start to smell it as you come down the stairs in the morning. I’m also happy to report that so far neither of us have had any adverse reactions despite sniffing the flowers quite deeply whilst trying to decide how to describe the scent.

[MartinNicklin]

That’s lovely. Have you ever grown Brunsvigia? I’d love to grow these and invested in some bulbs from SA a few years ago but they got lost in the post in SA for months and were dessicated when they arrived. I managed to get one to send up a leaf but it was so weak it just fizzled away. Over here, the bulbs are silly prices.