"Sacha" wrote in message
k...
On 18/12/04 13:34, in article ,
"Janet Baraclough.." wrote:
snip
The label on this bulb said " *OSE*A BRABA", the first letter could be
either J or Y and the fourth could be either R or N. So far as I can
find out, braba means wild in Portuguese. The picture shows a tall stem
with palest pink, down-ward facing trumpet flowers at the tip.A google
search doesn't come up with the label ID. The closest picture match I
can find on the internet is crinum bulbispermum. However, I haven't seen
crinum bulbs, or anything like this monster, for sale in the Funchal
plant market.It definitely isn't the bulb Madeirans call belladonna,
because the vendor had those in a separate heap.

Could it be one of the asphodels? The bulb size and description sounds
awfully like the bulbs we kept seeing Crete. There, they flower on naked
stems in about September/October time.

Any ideas?

The other one whose latin ID I haven't tracked down yet is a smallish
light brown corm I bought in the market, about gladiolus size, labelled
"St John's lily, red".

Clivia miniata?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

Aren't clivia's evergreen?
Crinums are very large bulbs normally with a long neck, but I suspect it may
be Eucomis pole-avense (don't think I have spelt the last bit correctly!)
they have enormous bulbs. Ours was stunning this year flower heads were late
coming but eventually came good in October (while we were back on Madeira)
and were 5' high still looking fine but now in the conservatory awaiting
seed ripening. ours came from Madeira too but as seed :~)

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)