Practical
Plants

Tritonia crocata

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Taxonomy and growth

Family
Iridaceae
Height
0.5 m
Flower type
hermaphrodite

Uses

Edible uses

The flowers are used as an adulterant of saffron in flavouring food and colouring it yellow[2].

Product or use
Colouring
Product or use
Condiment

Environment

Range
S. Africa.
Habitat
Dry clay flats and slopes in the southern Cape[6].
Light
full sun
Shade tolerance
no shade
Water
moderate
Hardiness
Zone 9+
Soil textures
sandy, loamy, clay
Soil pH
acid, neutral, alkaline
Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
No
Drought
intolerant

Propagation

Seed - sow early spring in a greenhouse at 15°c[4]. It usually germinates freely[1]. Seed can also be sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a warm greenhouse[4]. Sow the seed thinly so that the seedlings can be left undisturbed in the pot for their first two years of growth. Give them an occasional liquid feed in the growing season to ensure they do not become nutrient deficient. When the plants become dormant in the summer, pot up the small bulbs placing 2 - 3 bulbs in each pot. Grow them on for another one or two years in the greenhouse before planting them out when they are dormant in late summer. Division. Dig up the corms in October, dry them in well ventilated conditions at about 20°c and then store them in a cool but frost-free place over the winter, planting them out about 10cm deep in April[1][4]. Corms should be planted out in the autumn[3]. Cormlets harvested when digging up the corms in the autumn can be stored in a similar manner to the corms[4]. Larger cormlets can be planted out in spring, smaller ones may be best grown on for a year in the greenhouse.

Cultivation

Requires a sunny position, preferring a well-drained neutral to slightly acid soil with a pH in the range 6.5 to 7[4]. Requires moisture in the winter and spring followed by a dry period in the summer and early autumn[6]. A difficult plant to grow outdoors in Britain, it comes into growth in the winter and flowers in the spring[5][6]. The growing plant is not hardy in the colder areas of the country, it tolerates temperatures down to between -5 and -10°c[4]. Closely related to T. squallida, apparently differing only in the colour of the flowers[4].

References

  1. F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951-00-00

    ↩1↩2

  2. Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990-00-00 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9

    ↩

  3. Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990-00-00 ISBN 0-86318-386-7

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  4. Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5

    ↩1↩2↩3↩4↩5↩6↩7

  5. Matthews. V. The New Plantsman. Volume 1, 1994. Royal Horticultural Society 1994-00-00 ISBN 1352-4186

    ↩

  6. Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Conservatory and Indoor Plants Volumes 1 & 2 Pan Books, London. 1998-00-00 ISBN 0-330-37376-5

    ↩1↩2↩3

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