Vallota
Read about Vallota in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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Vallota (named for Pierre Vallot, French botanist). Amaryllidaceae. Scarborough Lily. Greenhouse tunicate bulb: scape robust, hollow: fls. large, in many umbels, sessile or shortly pedicelled; perianth funnel-shaped, straight, erect, tube short, throat large, lobes oblong-ovate; stamens affixed at the base of the lobes and shorter than them; ovary 3-celled: caps. oblong-ovate, dehiscent from the base.—One species. S. Afr. It has been proposed that Vallota be considered a subgenus of Cyrtanthus. The latter is a group of about 20 species of plants with fls. of various colors and naked at the throat. Cyrtanthus proper and the sub-genus Monella have beautiful pendulous fls. in umbels, but the plants are not so easy to grow as Vallota. It has been suggested that they be crossed with the more robust Vallota in the hope of combining their varied colors and pendulous grace with the strong constitution of the Vallota. Such a process would be similar to the one by which the noble race of Hippeastrum hybrids has been given to the world. Vallota is undoubtedly related to Cyrtanthus through the subgenus Gastronema, which has erect fls. and differs chiefly in the stamens. Of this subgenus C. sanguineus is in the trade (p. 945). The best form of Vallota seems to be the variety magnifica. The Scarborough lily is generally rated as a greenhouse bulb, but it can be grown by the amateur who has no glass, provided the plant can be kept over winter in a well-lighted cellar. Many persons have had no success with yallota. Such failures are generally due to the plants being kept too dry during winter. Although Baker says the leaves die down at the Cape in autumn, the plant acts like an evergreen in cultivation. Unlike most bulbous plants, the vallota should never be dried off but kept moderately moist about the roots throughout the year. The vallota is also strongly opposed to interference with its roots. It is possible to preserve a flowering specimen in most luxuriant health for three or four years without repotting, simply by applying liquid manure to the roots occasionally during the summer. The culture of vallota is not difficult when its peculiarities are understood. Several years are needed to work up a good plant to the specimen size. A vallota bulb is about twice as large as a hyacinth. For the first potting use a light soil, with a little sand at the base of the bulb, and place the bulb a distance below the surface equal to its own diameter. Use as small a pot as possible at every stage; shift only when the soil is well filled with roots and be careful to break no roots when shifting to a larger pot. The final potting is an important operation, as the plant is not to be disturbed again for three or four years. Drainage should be ample and perfect. It is essential that the potting soil be of a strong permanent nature and rich in plant-food. A good compost consists of turfy loam, fibrous peat and old cow-manure in equal parts. Add a little sand and charcoal. Avoid repotting until it is strictly necessary, and do so only when it is required to increase the number of plants or when there is danger of the roots breaking the pot. For amateurs the best time to repot the plants is directly after the flowering period. Use the greatest care in handling the roots. Allow the bulbs to project a little beyond the surface. Some gardeners prefer to repot vallota in June or July when root-action has started, but before the flower-stems have pushed up. Vallota likes full sunshine at all times of the year. The plant will stand a few degrees of frost in winter. Beware of over-potting; it is better to have the bulbs crowd one another out of the pot. Amateurs sometimes raise vallotas in the window-garden, one bulb in a 6-inch pot with one or two flower-stalks, but a large specimen is well worth years of care. The Scarborough lily has been cultivated by rich and poor for over a century. Its popular name is supposed to have been derived in same way as the Guernsey lily,—a Dutch bark having been wrecked off the coast of England, some bulbs washed ashore and became established as garden plants. Vallota is considerably grown for the London market, and it is said that some growers succeed in blooming their plants twice the same year, in winter and summer. At the Cape, the species is said to be native to peatbogs, which fact would account for the special winter treatment which it needs. In California the plant blooms at various times of the year.
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References
- Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
External links
- w:Vallota. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
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