View source for Agapanthus africanus

{{SPlantbox
|familia=Alliaceae
|genus=Agapanthus
|species=africanus
|common_name=African lily, Blue African lily, Lily-of-the-Nile
|name_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|habit=herbaceous
|habit_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|Min ht box=18
|Min ht metric=in
|Max ht box=24
|Max ht metric=in
|height_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|Min wd box=24
|Min wd metric=in
|Max wd box=36
|Max wd metric=in
|width_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|origin=Cape of Good Hope
|lifespan=perennial
|exposure=sun
|sun_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|water=moist, moderate, dry
|features=flowers, foliage, ground cover
|flower_season=early spring, mid spring, late spring, early summer, mid summer, late summer
|flower_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|flowers=blue, purple
|Temp Metric=°F
|min_zone=9
|usda_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|max_zone=11
|sunset_zones=7-9, 12-31
|image=Agapanthus_africanus.jpg
|image_width=240
}}
'''''Agapanthus africanus''''' ('''African lily''', '''Lily of the Nile'''; syn. ''Agapanthus umbellatus'') has a short stem bearing a tuft of long, narrow, arching leaves 10-35 cm long and 1-2 cm broad, and a central flower stalk 25-60 cm tall, ending in an umbel of 20-30 bright blue, funnel-shaped [[flower]]s, each flower 2.5-5 cm diameter.

{{Inc|
Agapanthus umbellatus, L'Her. AFRICAN LILY. Lily-of-the- Nile (although native to Cape of Good Hope region). Fig. 136. Lvs. 2 ft. long and numerous, thick, narrow: scape rising 2-3 ft. from the lf.-rosette, bearing an umbel of 10-30 handsome blue fls.; perianth funnel-shaped, 1 1/2-2 in. long, with short tube.—One of the best known of half-hardy liliaceous plants. Very variable in the wild, and many of the forms have been intro. to cult. Tall or giant forms: Var. multiflorus, Voss. (var. maximus, Hort. A. multiflorus, Willd.), taller than the prevailing forms, the bright blue large fls. as many as 30-60 in an umbel, the lvs. broader; Var. giganteas, Hort., a very robust form (to 4 ft.) with 150-200 dark blue fls. Dwarf forms: Var. minor, Hort., very small, with slender narrow lvs. (1/2 in. or less broad) and deep blue fls. which are 1 in. or less long; var. Mooreanus, Hort., l 1/2 ft., lvs. 
short and upright, fls. dark blue, and as large as in A. umbellatus itself; hardy; var. Leichtlinii, Hort., 1 1/2 ft., fls. bright 
hyacinth-blue in a very compact umbel. Variegated forms: Var. variegatus, Hort., lvs. white with sparse green stripes, rather small; var. aureus, Hort., lvs. striped yellow. White-fld. forms: Var. albidus, Hort., fls. pure white, rather small but many, the lvs. usually not persisting; var. Saintpaulii, Hort., apparently similar to last: fls. smaller than in A. umbellatus. Blue 
fld. forms of usual habit: Var. pallidus, Hort., fls. pale porcelain-blue; var. Weillighii, Hort., fls. lavender with indigo-blue lines and margins; var. Saundersonianus, Hort., fls. dark blue; var. atrocaeruleus, Hort., fls. dark violet; var. praecox, Hort. (var. minimus, Lindl. A. praecox, Willd.), is an earlier form, blooming in June or even earlier and by some regarded as a distinct species, the lvs. narrower than in the type, fls. smaller and 30-40 in the umbel, pale blue, with narrow perianth segms., and the peduncle or scape short; var. flore pleno, Hort., a double-fld. blue form, the fls. long-lasting. Very recent introductions are: Var. globosus (A. globosus, Bull), a dwarf-growing form, producing dense globular umbels on long scapes, the fls. about 1 in. across, the outer segms. lilac-blue shaded white and the inner ones emarginate and darker, the lvs. deciduous; var. insignis (A. insignis, Bull), tall, the basal part of the arching lvs. milk-white, the fls. very numerous on long slender pedicels and drooping in the very large umbel, pale lavender. Var. caulescens (A. caulescens, Spreng.), fls. blue, lighter inside, long-pediceled and the outer ones nodding, the root with thickened fibers; intro. by Carl Sprenger of Naples.
}}