Brunsvigia radulosa (Candelabra flower)

Kandelaarblom, Misryblom [Afrikaans]; lematla [South Sotho]; lilula [Swazi]

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) > Monocotyledons > Order: Asparagales > Family: Amaryllidaceae > Genus: Brunsvigia

Brunsvigia radulosa. North of Colesberg, Great Karoo, South Africa. [photo Colin Paterson-Jones ©]

See KwaZulu-Natal Wildflowers by Elsa Pooley p. 348

See Transvaal Lowveld and escarpment wild flowers by Jo Onderstall p. 54

Ecological interactions

Pollinators

Ward and Johnson (2005) found that Brunsvigia radulosa was self-incompatible and adapted for pollination mainly by the long-proboscid fly Philoliche aethiopica (Tabanidae). In areas where the fly is locally extinct (probably the result of habitat fragmentation), carpenter bees (Xylocopa) appear to act as substitute pollinators. However, they are less effective than the fly and this appears to have resulted in lower seed production in small populations of Brunsvigia radulosa.

Publications

• Ward, M., Johnson, S.D. 2005 (published online 2004). Pollen limitation and demographic structure in small fragmented populations of Brunsvigia radulosa (Amaryllidaceae). Oikos 108(2): 253-262. DOI: 10.1111/j.0030-1299.2005.13468.x