Crinum flaccidum
| Crinum flaccidum | |
| Light: |  |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 10 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 2' |
| Blooms: | Mid Summer |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Crinum flaccidum (common name: murray lily)
Propagation: Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe, placing 2 - 3 seeds in individual pots in a greenhouse. Do not cover the seed. Sow stored seed April/May in a warm greenhouse. Once they have germinated, you can thin each pot to just one plant if required, though we have not found this to be necessary. Give an occasional liquid feed to ensure that the plants do not suffer nutritional deficiencies. Grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first 2 years, planting them out into their permanent positions in the spring.
Division of offsets in April/May or in September. When divided in the spring, the bulbs can be planted out direct into their permanent positions, if done in September, however, they should be potted up and overwintered in the greenhouse.
Cultivation: Requires a rich well-drained soil in a sheltered sunny position[1][2].
Plants are not very frost hardy and are unlikely to succeed outside the mildest areas of the country[1][3]. Only plant out good sized bulbs and do so at the end of May, planting them quite deeply in the soil[1]. The bulbs are sensitive to transplanting and may take several years to establish[3]. They will require winter protection even in the mildest areas of the country, a good mulch of dry bracken might be sufficient[K].
Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer or rabbits[4].
It is possible that other members of this genus will also provide edible bulbs[5].
Range: Australia - New South Wales, South Australia.
Habitat: Sandy inundated flats of river flood plains[6].
Edibility: Root - cooked. Rich in starch[6][7], it is a source of arrowroot[8][9][10][5].
Pollinators: Insects
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ Grey, Charles. Hardy Bulbs. Williams & Norgate, 1938.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ Thomas, Graham. Perennial Garden Plants. J. M. Dent & Sons, 1990.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cribb, Alan and Joan Cribb. Wild Food in Australia. Fontana, 1976.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ewart, Alfred. Recording Census of the Victorian Flora. 1923.
- ↑ Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.