Tigridia pavonia
| Tigridia pavonia | |
| Light: |  |
| Moisture: |   |
| Hardiness: | 8 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 2' |
| Width: | 0.3' |
| Blooms: | Early Summer-Mid Fall |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Tigridia pavonia (common name: tiger flower)
Propagation: Seed - sow early spring in a greenhouse. It usually germinates freely. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring, after the last expected frosts. If the seedlings are potted up whilst still small and grown on quickly, they sometimes flower in their first year[K].
Division of offsets in the autumn. Store the corms in a cool but frost-free place and plant them out in the late spring. It is probably best to pot up the smaller corms and grow them on in a greenhouse for a year before planting them out in the spring.
Cultivation: Prefers a well-drained light sandy soil in a warm sunny position[1][2]. Likes plenty of moisture in the growing season[3].
Corms are not hardy outside the milder areas of Britain and should be dug up in the autumn and stored in a cool but frost free place over winter[1]. Plant out the corms in April or May about 15cm deep[4]. In areas with cool summers the plant might not manage to develop adequate corms for subsequent growing[5].
A beautiful, late flowering corm, it self-sows freely with us on a well-drained soil in Cornwall, even very wet winters do not seem to affect this plant[K].
Plants flower in their first or second year from seed[K].
Range: Southern N. America - Mexico.
Habitat: Oak and pine forests, it is also frequent on roadsides and in semi-wild habitats[6].
Edibility: Corm - cooked[7][8][9][10]. Delicious when baked, tasting like a sweet potato[K]. The corm is quite small unfortunately and so will never be more than a very tasty occasional treat[K]. The corm has an unpleasant, burning sensation on the mouth if it is eaten raw[K].
Medicinal: The plant has been used to promote fertility[5].
Pollinators: Insects
Notes: We could supply this in the next catalogue.
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Seed Ripens: Early Fall-Mid Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ Grey, Charles. Hardy Bulbs. Williams & Norgate, 1938.
- ↑ Brickell, Christopher. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers. Dorling Kindersley Publishers, 1990.
- ↑ Innes, Clive. The World of Iridaceae. Holly Gate, 1985.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ Phillips, Roger and Martyn Rix. Bulbs. Pan Books, 1989.
- ↑ Hedrick, Ulysses. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972.
- ↑ 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.