Androcymbium capense Seeds

Family : Colchicaceae
Common names: cup and a saucer, men-in-a-boat ( Eng. ); bobbejaanskoen (Afr.)

These plants are found growing amongst short grass and have no stem, Leaves usually 3 or 4, spreading or prostrate, ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, often with wavy, hairy margin, leathery, 40–150 mm long, bracts broadly ovate, green above but marked with white below or mostly white not striped, 50–­80 mm high and wider than the leaves, flowers 2–5, tepal blade concave at base more or less as long as the tepal claws, tepal claws 8–10 mm long, filaments 5–7 mm long, styles as long as or slightly longer than ovary. Flowering time: May–August. (March–April in the northern hemisphere). Plants grow on clay or loam flats in eastern parts of the Little Karoo and in the Outeniquas and Tsitsikammas Mountains, which are just inland from the Indian Ocean at 27–1 370 m altitudes.

Members of the genus Androcymbium are low, short-stemmed to stemless perennials with leaves spreading on the ground. The most noticeable characteristics are the colourful bracts, which are upright, forming a cup that embraces the flowers.

DescriptionThe name is derived from the Greek words, aner, man, and kumbion, cup. Species of the genus Androcymbium are short-stemmed or stemless reaching a the height of 150 mm. All species have an ovoid corm (a corm unlike a bulb, is a stem that is swollen and modified for storage, flattened on top and slightly concave on the bottom: when upon being cut, the corm appears solid). It has a fan-like, basal fold, and is covered with dark leathery to woody tunics.

Leaves are few to several, scattered along the stem; in a stemless species, they are congested and often prostrate, ovate to linear-lanceolate, clasping below, parallel-veined, often with a distinct midrib; when broad, the leaves are arching. They have a soft leathery texture and the margins are sometimes crisped and smooth or ciliolate or bristly.

The inflorescence is single to few-flowered, bracteate and usually forming a congested raceme; the bracts are leaf-like or broader and often coloured or patterned, the inner bracts are successively smaller. The flowers are found at the base of the bract and are usually green-white. There are six tepals (rarely 7–12), which are not joined to form a tube. They have a swollen yellow nectary at the base. The six stamens are attached to the lower part of the tepals. The ovary is cylindrical; deeply lobed, has three free styles and many ovules per locule. The fruit is an ovoid septicidal capsule. Most of the Cape species have curious, cupped tepal limbs, which hold the nectar, and often broad, colourful floral bracts that resemble large petals, which envelope the small flowers.

Economic and cultural value The bulb of Androcymbium has been found to be toxic, yet it has been used medicinally by the Southern Sothos as ointment for the sore ears. The plant is believed to be a charm to stop the enemy in wars.