Nivenia corymbosa Seeds - Indigenous Endemic Caudiciform Perennial Bulb Shrub - New

Nivenia is a genus of 9 species placed in the family Iridaceae. Nivenia is a South African endemic genus with most species found in the Western Cape Province. The genus name is a tribute to the Scottish botanist James Niven, one of the first to collect the genus. Nivenia belongs to a group of plants known as the woody irises, which also include two other genera, Klattia and Witsenia. The 13 species in these genera are all evergreen shrubs which characteristically have the woody stems and a woody underground caudex (swollen woody underground organ from which stems arise).

Nivenia corymbosa is a shrublet which grows to a height of 0.5 to 2 m. The stems are erect to inclined, several growing from the base of the plant. The younger stems are 5-6 mm in diameter with the older stems reaching to 30 mm in diameter at the base. The narrow, lanceolate leaves are sword-shaped and are 100-200 x 8 mm. The inflorescence or corymb is large and has about 120 flowers borne on a terminal cluster. The flowers are usually pale to deep blue and appear from late January to March.

Seed should be sown in autumn and treated with smoke seed primer for best results. Sow in a well-drained, acidic soil medium consistent with that used for other fynbos plants.