View source for Bomarea

{{SPlantbox
|familia=Alstroemeriaceae
|genus=Bomarea
|lifespan=perennial
|features=flowers
|flowers=red
|Temp Metric=°F
|jumpin=If this plant info box on watering; zones; height; etc. is mostly empty you can click on the edit tab and fill in the blanks!
|image=Bomarea Southern Ecuador.jpg
|image_width=180
|image_caption=Bomarea sp.
}}
'''''Bomarea''''' is one of the two major [[genus|genera]] in the [[plant]] [[family (biology)|family]] [[Alstroemeriaceae]].  Most occur in the [[Andes]]. Several [[species]] are occasionally found as [[garden]] plants.

It is essentially a [[twining]] version of their relatives in ''[[Alstroemeria]]'', though some [[species]] stand freely upright.

Perhaps the most fascinating — and telltale — [[morphology (biology)|morphological]] trait of most if not all Alstroemeriaceae is the fact that the [[leaves]] are [[resupination|resupinate]]: they twist from the base so that what appears to be the upper leaf surface is in fact the lower leaf surface.

{{Inc|
Bomarea (named after the French botanist, J. C. W. deBomare). Amaryllidaceae. Tender South American plants allied to Alstroemeria, and with similar fls. but a twining habit. Lvs. parallel-veined, usually borne on short, twisted petioles: fls. in pendulous umbels, variously colored and spotted, borne in early spring and summer; perianth funnel-shaped; tube none.

The most beautiful species now grown is probably B. carderi. It has large terminal cymes of rose-colored flowers, about 2 inches long, with dark purple spots and blotches. Another valuable form is B. shuttleworthii with pale yellow flowers, spotted with green.

Bomareas delight in a rich, fibrous soil, and require plenty of water during the growing season, which begins early in the spring. A little, well-decayed cow-manure mixed with the soil improves the growth and results in larger clusters of flowers, as does also manure watering during the growing season. Late in fall the stems are cut down to the ground and the roots are kept in the soil in a dry state. While they often make satisfactory pot-plants, they do best when planted out in an open sunny position in a cool conservatory where they have plenty of air in summer. In the south, bomareas may be grown in the open air on trellises in half-shady places. All are woodland plants and cannot be successfully grown in the glaring heat of the sun.

Propagation is by fresh seeds, which germinate readily if sown in shallow pans in a warm propagating- house; also, and more rapidly, by careful division of the rhizome, to which some of the roots should be attached.

B. Wercklei, Lemoine. Lvs. lanceolate, acuminate, bright green: fls. about 12 in a terminal umbel, vermilion—orange, with orange- yellow inside. Costa Rica. N. J. Rose.
}}


==Cultivation==
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===Propagation===
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===Pests and diseases===
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==Species==
Selected species:
* ''[[Bomarea acutifolia]]''
* ''[[Bomarea angustifolia]]''
* ''[[Bomarea borjae]]''
* ''[[Bomarea brachysepala]]''
* ''[[Bomarea ceratophora]]''
* ''[[Bomarea chimborazensis]]''
* ''[[Bomarea elegans]]''
* ''[[Bomarea glaucescens]]''
* ''[[Bomarea goniocaulon]]''
* ''[[Bomarea gracilis]]''
* ''[[Bomarea graminifolia]]''
* ''[[Bomarea hartwegii]]''
* ''[[Bomarea lanata]]''
* ''[[Bomarea longipes]]''
* ''[[Bomarea lutea]]''
* ''[[Bomarea lyncina]]''
* ''[[Bomarea uncifolia]]''

==Gallery==
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==References==
<!--- xxxxx  *Flora: The Gardener's Bible, by Sean Hogan. Global Book Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0881925381  -->
<!--- xxxxx  *American Horticultural Society: A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, by Christopher Brickell, Judith D. Zuk. 1996. ISBN 0789419432  -->
<!--- xxxxx  *Sunset National Garden Book. Sunset Books, Inc., 1997. ISBN 0376038608  -->

==External links==
*{{wplink}}

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