Cyrtanthus bicolor

R. A. Dyer

Fire lily

Amaryllidaceae Edible: Leaves, Flowers, Vegetable 34 iNaturalist observations

iNaturalist· cc-by-nc

Description

A herb. A bulb plant. The bulb is 3 cm across. There are 2 or 3 leaves and these reach full size 1-2 months after flowering. The leaves are narrow and taper to both ends. They are 40 cm long by 1 cm wide. The flowering stalk is 20-30 cm long. It is hollow. There can be up to 10 flowers. They are usually turned to 1 side and nodding. The flowers are tube shaped. They are red.

Edible Uses

The leaves and flowers are used as vegetables.

Distribution

A tropical plant. In Swaziland it grows in the highveld.

Where It Grows

Africa, Eswatini, South Africa, Southern Africa*, Swaziland,

Cultivation

Plants are grown by seeds.

Notes

There are 47 Cyrtanthus species. They grow in tropical and southern Africa.

Also Known As

Impimpiliza, Ummoimpiliza

References (10)

Jardin, C., 1970, List of Foods Used In Africa, FAO Nutrition Information Document Series No 2.p 74
Long, C., 2005, Swaziland's Flora - siSwati names and Uses http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora/
Marinelli, J. (Ed), 2004, Plant. DK. p 232 (Other species)
Martin, F.W. & Ruberte, R.M., 1979, Edible Leaves of the Tropics. Antillian College Press, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. p 174
Ogle & Grivetti, 1985,

Show all 10 references

Okigbo, B.N., Vegetables in Tropical Africa, in Opena, R.T. & Kyomo, M.L., 1990, Vegetable Research and development in SADCC countries. Asian Vegetable Research and development Centre. Taiwan. p 38
Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 10
Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 12
Swaziland's Flora Database http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora
Welcome, A. K. & Van Wyk, B.-E., 2019, An inventory and analysis of the food plants of southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 122 (2019) 136–179