Beschorneria

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names
	Beschorneria >

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Read about Beschorneria in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
Beschorneria (after H. Beschorner, German botanist). Amaryllidaceae. Succulent desert plants, allied to Bravoa, Fourcroya and Doryanthes, planted far south and in California, and sometimes seen in collections under glass in the North. Leaves in a rosette, glaucous, roughish at the margins, not so thick, firm or fleshy as in Agave (which has a strong end-spine and horny marginal prickles): root- stock short, tuberous: fls. accompanied by showy colored bracts. In Beschorneria, the perianth is usually reddish green, funnel form but with a very short tube and with long, oblanceolate segms.; in Doryanthes the perianth is bright red, the segms. long, narrowly falcate; in Bravoa the perianth is red or white, the tube curved, sub-cylindrical, and the segms. short. From Fourcroya, to which the genus is closely related, Beschorneria is distinguished by its tubular-shaped perianth, long and narrow segms.," thin and slender filaments, which are only slightly thickened below the middle. The perianth of Fourcroya is campanulate, with spreading, ovoid or elliptic segms., and short thickened filaments; the fourcroyas are larger plants, and without large showy bracts, and often produce bulbils, which Beschorneria never does. The species are very closely allied, and difficult to distinguish. The following are the only kinds well known, and they are all from Mexico. If in good condition they bloom every year in warm countries from suckers of the previous year, but in the North they are likely to bloom only at long irregular intervals. The species succeed best when treated similarly to agaves, with the exception of the soil, which may be made richer by the addition of crushed bone and a little vegetable-mold. All of the species need greenhouse protection in the northern states. They are hardy in the warmest parts of the British Islands. Useful for bedding as striking foliage subjects. B. argyrophylla, Hort.-B. Dekosteriana.—B. californica is a nomen nudum.—B. superba, Hort. and B. viridiflora, Hort.-B. yuccoides. G. W. Oliver. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.