Widespread use of Gloriosa rothschildiana in the florist trade, especially for corsage and bowl arrangements, is bringing the arresting beauty of these exotic, tropical, African bulb-vine flowers to the attention of many thousands of American flower lovers who might otherwise never have seen them outside of Florida and choice greenhouse collections in the North.
At this time several Florida growers are supplying Gloriosa flowers to the northern florist trade, the blooms being shipped air express to leading cities in the East and Mid-West. They arc also a major adornment of flower gardens around the subtropical Gulf Coast, especially in central Florida, where they were introduced from England some 41 years ago by the late Dr. Henry Nehrling, pioneer Florida plan tsman.
The flower of G. rothschildiana is not unlike a slender and symmetrical tiger lily, with recurred segments brilliantly patterned in scarlet and yellow, the whole flower gradually deepening in color to crimson as it matures.
G. rothschildiana tubers can be handled like gladiolus in culture: planted, grown to blooming stage, ripened off and dug two or three times a year in warm climates. As the vines are tropical and tender to frost, this procedure cannot be used in the North except in the greenhouse. However, more and more northern gardeners are growing Gloriosa outdoors in the Summer by planting the tubers in the late Spring when the ground is warm and digging them before severe cold weather arrives in the Fall.
The Gloriosa tribe includes several other species of which only Gloriosa superba, G. planti (G. virescens, G. simplex) and G. carsoni are grown in the United States at this time.
Gloriosa superba is fairly common in Florida gardens. It is a graceful climbing tuberous-rooted vine, with slender leaves, growing six or eight feet tall at maturity.
Characteristic of all Gloriosa species are the curling tendrils at the tips of the leaves by which the plant takes support in climbing up a string, wire or trellis. In the wild, this method of fastening enables it to clamber through brush and undergrowth to the light. When firmly fastened to an object by these tendrils, the plant is anchored as firmly as if it were tied with string. The leaf will tear before the tendril will let go. The sideways projection of t he style is another peculiarity of the genus.
The tubers of most Gloriosa species are distinct, being most closely related to the nearby genera, Littonia and Sandersonia, both of South African origin. Gloriosas are of African origin, too, although G. superba is also recorded from southern Asia, and is common in India from the Indian Ocean to the Himalayas. In the case of G. rothschildiana, G. superba and G. carsoni, the tubers are U or V-shaped, plump and brown at full growth. They are fragile and must be handled carefully in order to protect the bud-eyes on the tips of the tubers.
The tubers of G. planti, as it is generally called in America, although the older authors class it as a synonym of G. simplex of Linnaeus and 0. virescens of Lindley, arc still more strange. They are usually of pencil thickness, or slightly larger, and wander through the soil aimlessly, curling like a snake, and extending up to two feet in length. They are difficult to dig without damage to the tuber. In commercial practice only one arm of the Gloriosa tuber is sold and the other retained by the grower for planting stock.
Gloriosa rothschildiana can be grown in the Northern garden in Summer under gladiolus culture with excellent results. G. planti can be handled in the same way, although it and G. superba have a longer growing season and are not recommended for outside planting in the North without further experimentation along these lines.
Gloriosa bulbs want a fertile but well-drained, sandy, loam soil and do well in lighter types, if fortified with a little commercial fertilizer before planting. They do not require manures or compost as these may be injurious to them, causing scab or bulb rot. In storage, the tubers should be kept moderately cool and dry, preferably covered with peat, vermiculite or other warm, insulating material. If stored in cold, damp conditions they will lose vitality and may rot entirely.
Gloriosa superba was introduced into England from Holland before 1700 by Lord Portland. It was known to Linnaeus and described by him under that name in his Species Plantarum of 1753. Linnaeus also described a second species, with blue flowers and no tendrils on the leaves, under the name G. simplex (because of the lack of tendrils). This species was never seen by Linnaeus personally but was described from the "Gloriosa coerulea" description in Miller's Dictionary, 8th edition.
Reference to Miller's Dictionary reveals that the plant was not seen by him in bloom, either, but was growing in a greenhouse in England at that time as a climbing plant from Senegal, believed to be a Gloriosa with blue flowers. The seed had been obtained from the gardener to the King of France.
No trace of the outcome of the mystery can be found in the literature. Certainly all Gloriosas as known today have definite tendrils in the mature foliage, and no Gloriosa is known from Senegal or anywhere else with blue flowers, so it is possible that upon further study, Linnaeus' Gloriosa simplex may be an invalid species.
All the Gloriosas may be grown in small tubs or large flat pots or bulb pans as they are called. In small pots the new tubers are likely to damage themselves by banging their noses against the sides of the pots; many times this pressure is strong enough to destroy the growing points. The vines may be tied to a string, wire or bamboo stake while growing, or they may be permitted to clamber over an adjacent shrub or piece of brush. Without support they will topple over when two or three feet tall and become unsightly. We have tried to even grow some under LED grow lights with some success.
G. virescens was first described in 1825 as a "greenish-flowered" Gloriosa from Mozambique. The original illustration in the Botanical Magazine shows the foliage with strong leaf tendrils and a flower very similar, if not identical, to the G. planti grown in America and Europe today. The name G. planti came a few years later and was based on a plant sent to England in 1851 from Natal by a Mr. R. W. Plant. It is usually classed as a variety of G. virescens.
The flower of G. planti is smaller than that of G. rothschildiana but of similar shape, having broad petals only slightly waved or crisped. The crisping is most notable in G. superba. The coloring of planti is yellow and orange, and the flower is paler in shady places or under glass. When first opened, it is sometimes entirely yellow, but deepens in color in a few days. There is a yellow variety of G. superba which opens clear creamy yellow in tone and deepens to tawny red as the flower ripens. This variety is found occasionally in G. superba plantings in Florida and the effort is being made to separate a selected strain. It is a handsome thing at its hest.
G. carsoni is a modern species first described in 1895 by J. G. Baker from East Central Africa. It has slender leaves and an elegant, tall, free-flowering habit like G. superba, the blooms being less crisped and claret red and yellow in color. It is an attractive species, not showy and spectacular like G. rothschildiana, but graceful and appealing. It first bloomed in Florida during the 1949 on plants grown, by Ralph Seymour Cammack of Maitland and from bulbs obtained in England and Holland. G. carsoni makes large tubers, but not as large as G. rothschildiana, which may produce them as thick as one's wrist and as long as the forearm under optimum conditions.
G. planti as grown in America is a branching semi-dwarf type, two to three feet tall, with handsome wide, glossy, bright green leaves and abundant, recurved orange-red and yellow flowers, exactly like the illustrations of O. virescens in the old English garden papers. It seeds readily and may be the source of interesting hybrid types if present experiments prove successful. One grower has already reported success in hybridizing Gloriosas.
The main blooming season for Gloriosa species is the late Summer. G. rothschildiana may be had in bloom every month of the year in a frost-free climate, and commercial flower producers dig and plant the bulbs regularly throughout the year to have a steady sequence of flowers. Greenhouse growth of Gloriosa rothschildiana in the North in Winter may ultimately prove satisfactory.
G. rothschildiana is the most recent discovery of all the species commonly grown and was first described in 1903 in the Gardener's Chronicle by James O'Brien, who sent the first tubers to Dr. Nehrling in Florida shortly afterward. The plant had bloomed for the Hon. Walter Rothschild, M.P., at Tring Park, England, from tubers collected in Uganda by Maj. H. B. Rattray. It was immediately recognized as the most handsome and brilliant species of the genus and created a sensation in Europe when shown.
Gloriosa bulbs are propagated by parting the tubers at an angle in the Spring before planting and from seed. G. superba, G. planti and G. carsoni seed well; G. rothschildiana will seed fairly well under hand pollination. The seeds need a ripening period before planting and will give a better germination after a year than when planted immediately.
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