Eucomis


Eucomis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, native to southern Africa. Most species of this genus are commonly referred to as pineapple flowers or pineapple lilies. They are bulbous perennials with basal rosettes of leaves with stout stems covered in star-shaped flowers with a tuft of green bracts at the top, superficially resembling a pineapple – hence the common names.

Taxonomy

The genus Eucomis was first published by Charles L'Héritier in 1789. The name Eucomis is of Greek origin, eu- meaning "pleasing" and kome "hair of the head", thus referring to the tuft of leaf-like bracts that crown the inflorescence of the species in this genus. The name was first used by Daniel Solander, who decided that Linnaeus's Fritillaria regia should be placed in a separate genus. However, Solander died before publishing the name, and was not mentioned by L'Héritier in his 1789 publication. Initially, three species were placed in Eucomis: E. regia, E. nana and E. punctata.

Classification

Eucomis is placed in the subfamily Scilloideae of the family Asparagaceae by those who use the APG system of plant classification, and in the family Hyacinthaceae by those who use more narrowly defined families. Using the subfamily Scilloideae, Eucomis is placed in the tribe Hyacintheae, subtribe Massoniinae, along with such genera as Lachenalia, Ledebouria, Massonia and Veltheimia.
The species can be divided into two groups. One consists of seven mainly short, diploid species with 2n = 2x = 30 chromosomes: E. amaryllidifolia, E. bicolor, E. grimshawii, E. regia, E. schijffii, E. vandermerwei and E. zambesiaca. The other consists of five mainly larger, tetraploid species with 2n = 4x = 60 chromosomes: E. autumnalis, E. comosa, E. humilis, E. montana and E. pallidiflora.

Species

The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families recognized 12 species, as of 2018:
  1. Eucomis amaryllidifolia – South Africa
  2. Eucomis autumnalis Chitt. – South Africa, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland
  3. Eucomis bicolor Baker – South Africa, Lesotho
  4. Eucomis comosa Wehrh. – South Africa
  5. Eucomis grimshawii G.D.Duncan & Zonn. – South Africa
  6. Eucomis humilis Baker – South Africa, Lesotho
  7. Eucomis montana Compton – South Africa, Swaziland
  8. Eucomis pallidiflora Baker South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland
  9. Eucomis regia L'Hér. – South Africa
  10. Eucomis schijffii Reyneke – South Africa, Lesotho
  11. Eucomis vandermerwei Verd. – Mpumalanga
  12. Eucomis zambesiaca Baker – Malawi, Zimbabwe, Limpopo

    Distribution and habitat

Eucomis is native to South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Malawi. Species can be found in grassland, forest, swamps and on river banks, but are absent from the drier regions. The smaller species are more often found at higher elevations, on hilltops or other exposed places; the larger species favour less exposed habitats, such as damp gulleys and streamsides.

Cultivation

Eucomis species are cultivated as ornamental plants. Most of the summer-flowering species will tolerate frost down to when dormant in winter, provided they are kept dry. They flower best if given both sun exposure and moisture in summer. Eucomis regia grows in winter and flowers in early spring. It needs greenhouse cultivation in regions that, like Britain, have a maritime rather than a Mediterranean climate.