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Iridaceae FAMILY

Babiana fragrans

Babiana fragrans

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitCorm
Growth—

Babiana fragrans is a plant of the Mediterranean climate of southwest S. Africa, with its hot, dry summers and cooler wet winters. In its native habitat, the plant comes into growth in the winter and flowers in the spring, then dies down during the dry season. Outside of Mediterranean climates, the plant can only be grown outdoors in mild winter areas, otherwise are best grown with some protection. They can tolerate temperatures down to about -5°c[1]. An easily grown plant, it requires a warm, sunny, sheltered position in a well-drained light sandy soil[2, 3]. Plant the corms 20 - 25cm deep[3, 1]. In mild winter areas the corms can be lifted after the plant dies down in the autumn and stored overwinter in a dry frost-free place, replanting them in the spring[1]. If the plants are to be left in the ground over the winter then it is best to give them a protective mulch of bracken or some similar material[4]. The growing plant resents root disturbance[5]. The flowers are strongly fragrant[6].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cool greenhouse, it will germinate in the spring[1]. The seed can also be sown in a warm greenhouse at most times of the year[7]. It usually germinates within 4 - 8 weeks at 20°c[5]. Give young seedlings as much light as possible[5]. Sow the seed thinly so that it does not need to be thinned and grow the young plants on for their first year without disturbance. Give an occasional liquid feed to ensure that they do not become nutrient deficient. Pot the small bulbs up when they are dormant, placing 2 - 3 bulbs in each pot, and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least the next year. Plant them out into their permanent positions when the plants are dormant in the autumn. Division of offsets when the plant is dormant in the autumn. They are freely produced[2, 1]. The offsets can be planted direct into their permanent positions if required. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Babiana+fragrans>

Pollinators

Bees, ?Beetles

References

  1. [1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  2. [2]Hardy Bulbs.; Including Half-hardy Bulbs and Tuberous and Fiberous-rooted Plants — Grey. C. H. · Williams & Norgate. · 1938 · ISBN - ↩︎Rather dated now, but an immense work on bulbs for temperate zones and how to grow them. Three large volumes.
  3. [3]The World of Iridaceae — Innes. C. ↩︎Deals with many of the plants in the Iris family giving brief details of habitat and notes on cultivation. Well illustrated.
  4. [4]Scented Flora of the World. — Genders. R. · Robert Hale. London. · 1994 · ISBN 0-7090-5440-8 ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.
  5. [5]Growing from Seed. Volume 2. — Rice. G. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1988 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. An interesting article on Ensete ventricosum.
  6. [6]A revision of the southern African genus Babiana, Iridaceae: Crocoideae — Goldblatt P. & Manning J.C. · South African National Biodiversity Institute: Pretoria · 2007 · ISBN 978-1-919976-32-7 ↩︎An in-depth revision of the genus Babiana
  7. [7]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  8. [8]Flora of the Cape Peninsula. — Adamson. and Salter. ↩︎A good flora but rather short on details of habitat. Not for the casual reader.
  9. [9]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  10. [10]Alternative Foods. — Sholto-Douglas. J. ↩︎Not very comprehensive, it seems more or less like a copy of earlier writings with little added.
  11. [11]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  12. [12]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  13. [13]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.