Bobartia indica
Bobartia indica
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
Bobartia indica grows in the Mediterraneal climate of southern S. Africa, experiencing hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. It can tolerate short-lived temperatures as low as about -5°c, and dislikes excessive wet in winter, but can be grown outdoors in the milder regions of the temperate zone[1, 2]. Requires a very sunny position and a gritty soil[1, 3, 4, 2]. Plants prefer a moist winter followed by a dry summer[5]. Succeeds in poor acidic soils[6]. Plants resprout profusely after a fire[2]. Individual flowers are about 5cm in diameter and only live for one day[5]. The rhizomes establish themselves very deeply in the soil[3].
Propagation
Seed - we have no information on this species but suggest that the seed is probably best sown as soon as it is ripe in a greenhouse. Sow stored seed in early spring in a greenhouse. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow on the plants in the greenhouse for at least the first winter planting them out in late spring. Division in autumn[1]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Bobartia+indica>
Pollinators
Bees
References
- [1]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 Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
- [2]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.
- [3]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.
- [4]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.
- [5]Conservatory and Indoor Plants Volumes 1 & 2 — Phillips. R. & Rix. M. · Pan Books, London. · 1998 · ISBN 0-330-37376-5 ↩︎Excellent photos of over 1,100 species and cultivars with habits and cultivation details plus a few plant uses. Many species are too tender for outdoors in Britain though there are many that can be grown outside.
- [6]The Color Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs — Manning. J. Goldblatt. P. & Snijman. D. · Timber Press, Oregon. · 2002 · ISBN 0-88192-547-0 ↩︎Excellent treatment of these plants, with good descriptions, habitat etc. Lots of high quality colour photographs.
- [7]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.
- [8]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.