Sorry I don't have a picture. This was an accent plant at the recent Rochester
bonsai show. It originally came from Korea. It is a cluster of scaly bulbs,
which grow at ground level. They are about 2" across, almost like lily bulbs.
Each bulb produces one leaf, parallel veined, long heart shape with a point,
slightly wavy, with brownish spots all over the top surface. leaves are about
3" long, petiole maybe 3-4" long. Each bulb also produces a tall, almost a foot
high, stalk topped with a tight raceme of flowers, opening from the bottom. The
buds are white, but the flowers are green. flowers are maybe 1/4" across. From
the outside, they look like the more primitive orchids, with 3 half-open
sepals. but if you pry it open, there seem to be six petals alternating with
six stamens. There is a single ovary in the middle with one pistil. Sound like
anybody you know?
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

In article ,
Iris Cohen wrote:
Sorry I don't have a picture. This was an accent plant at the recent Rochester
bonsai show. It originally came from Korea. It is a cluster of scaly bulbs,
which grow at ground level. They are about 2" across, almost like lily bulbs.
Each bulb produces one leaf, parallel veined, long heart shape with a point,
slightly wavy, with brownish spots all over the top surface. leaves are about
3" long, petiole maybe 3-4" long. Each bulb also produces a tall, almost a foot
high, stalk topped with a tight raceme of flowers, opening from the bottom. The
buds are white, but the flowers are green. flowers are maybe 1/4" across. From
the outside, they look like the more primitive orchids, with 3 half-open
sepals. but if you pry it open, there seem to be six petals alternating with
six stamens. There is a single ovary in the middle with one pistil. Sound like
anybody you know?

Yeah! I got a small one last fall. The petioles are much shorter when
grown under higher light.

I got it at a community fall fair. The guy I got it from said it's
"related to that one", pointing to Ledebouria (formerly Scilla)
violacea, a big pot of which I've had for years, which also grows a
lot more compact under higher light. I can believe it from the many
similarities in leaf, bulb and flower.

Mine is blooming now too. It lost its few leaves and went dormant for
the winter, but started growing again when the days got longer. I don't
know if this is a real seasonal behaviour or just a reaction to a cold
windowsill. I wonder if it's actually native to Korea, or someone just
got it from someone in Korea. I thought Ledebouria was from South America.

If you find out what it is, let me know!

Not a Ledebouria. The flowers are not orchid-like and they have all six
tepals recurved.

More likely its a Lachenalia.
Its a big genus with many species and cultivars now in cultivation.
Many of the species have maculate leaves.

http://www.bulbsociety.com/GALLERY_O...S/Lachenalia/L
achenalialist.html

http://images.google.com/images?q=la...en&btnG=Google
+Search

Both genera are primarily African but Ledebouria is also found on Socotra,
the Arabian peninsula and in India.

Beverly Erlebacher wrote in message
.. .
In article ,
Iris Cohen wrote:
Sorry I don't have a picture. This was an accent plant at the recent
Rochester
bonsai show. It originally came from Korea. It is a cluster of scaly
bulbs,
which grow at ground level. They are about 2" across, almost like lily
bulbs.
Each bulb produces one leaf, parallel veined, long heart shape with a
point,
slightly wavy, with brownish spots all over the top surface. leaves are
about
3" long, petiole maybe 3-4" long. Each bulb also produces a tall, almost
a foot
high, stalk topped with a tight raceme of flowers, opening from the
bottom. The
buds are white, but the flowers are green. flowers are maybe 1/4" across.
From
the outside, they look like the more primitive orchids, with 3 half-open
sepals. but if you pry it open, there seem to be six petals alternating
with
six stamens. There is a single ovary in the middle with one pistil. Sound
like
anybody you know?

Yeah! I got a small one last fall. The petioles are much shorter when
grown under higher light.

I got it at a community fall fair. The guy I got it from said it's
"related to that one", pointing to Ledebouria (formerly Scilla)
violacea, a big pot of which I've had for years, which also grows a
lot more compact under higher light. I can believe it from the many
similarities in leaf, bulb and flower.

Mine is blooming now too. It lost its few leaves and went dormant for
the winter, but started growing again when the days got longer. I don't
know if this is a real seasonal behaviour or just a reaction to a cold
windowsill. I wonder if it's actually native to Korea, or someone just
got it from someone in Korea. I thought Ledebouria was from South
America.

If you find out what it is, let me know!

In article ,
Cereoid-UR12 wrote:
Not a Ledebouria. The flowers are not orchid-like and they have all six
tepals recurved.

More likely its a Lachenalia.
Its a big genus with many species and cultivars now in cultivation.
Many of the species have maculate leaves.

http://www.bulbsociety.com/GALLERY_O...S/Lachenalia/L
achenalialist.html

Thanks for the link. Dunno about Iris's plant, but mine looks very much
like Ledebouria revoluta pictured there (click on the image of the raceme
to see a bigger pic with leaves). The Lachenalias seem to have much more
showy flowers. I'll have to take a magnifying glass to the flowers on my
plant tonight! (Replace Lachenalia with Ledebouria in above URL or just
browse the site, but wait until you've gotten all your work done first.)

http://images.google.com/images?q=la...en&btnG=Google
+Search

Both genera are primarily African but Ledebouria is also found on Socotra,
the Arabian peninsula and in India.

According to one of the Ledebouria links, there's even a Chinese species.
Also, Ledebouria violacea seems to have been renamed L.socialis, or
L.sociaris according to a Japanese site. ;-)