Pineapple Flower

Description

Eucomis schijffii is a bulbous species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, native to the Cape Provinces, KwaZulu-Natal and Lesotho. It was first described by William Frederick Reyneke in 1976. The reddish purple flowers appear in summer and are arranged in a spike (raceme), topped by a "head" of green leaflike bracts. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant and can be grown successfully outside where frosts are not too severe. The smallest of the species of Eucomis, it is particularly suited to being grown in rock gardens or containers. Eucomis schijffii is a short summer-growing bulbous plant. The smallest of the species of Eucomis as of 2018, it is about 10–15 cm (4–6 in) tall. Its bulb is globular, 2–4 cm (3⁄4–1+1⁄2 in) across. Three to four ovate leaves emerge from the bulb and lie flat on the soil. The leaves are often bluish grey (glaucous), about 5–10 cm (2–4 in) long and 3–7 cm (1–3 in) across, sometimes purple tinged or spotted underneath. The leaf margins are smooth or with very small indentations. The flowers are arranged in a raceme on a purple stem (peduncule) 4–10 cm (1+1⁄2–4 in) tall. The raceme is topped by a head or "coma" of 10 to 15 ovate bracts that sometimes have purple margins. The unpleasantly scented flowers have six dark reddish purple tepals and purple stamen filaments, and are either sessile or have very short stalks (pedicels). The ovary, and the inflated capsule that develops from it, are greenish, generally with some purple shading.