Tulbaghia

Tulbaghia is a genus of rhizomatous or cormous, often clump-forming perennials in the Alliaceae family. The hairless plants usually emit a strong garlic scent when damaged and bear many thick roots. They do not require fire to stimulate flowering, but usually flower well after rain.

Each plant grows four to eight basal leaves, evergreen or deciduous, sheathed at the base and sometimes arranged distichous or fan-shaped. The linear or strap-shaped leaves are soft, their bases tubular.

The flowers grow in an umbel of three to forty flowers on an erect, naked scape, initially enclosed by two spathes that persist and later become reflexed. Each flower has a pedicel or stalk with a thread-like bract.

The funnel-shaped, tubular perianth has six lobes or tepals in two whorls, joined in the lower half of the tube. There is a swollen crown (or corona) around the flower mouth at the base of the tepal lobes, either shaped as a ring (annulus) or as three appendages on the inner tepals. The tepal lobes spread or recurve, usually shorter than the tube. Some species have sweet-scented flowers. The petals persist after withering. The mostly dull perianth colours are varied, from green and brown to white or mauve with the corona in some cases yellow or orange.

The six stamens grow in two series inside the tube. The three-locular ovary is superior, ovoid in shape. The style is a short column, the stigma upon it a compact head. Nectaries are present.

The fruit is surrounded by the perianth remains. The seeds are triangular and shiny.

There are about twenty Tulbaghia species, all in Africa and most of them occurring in southern Africa. Most species feature in traditional medicine, some in culinary applications as well. The plant in picture is Tulbaghia violacea (Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2009).