Description
Although Pancratium is widespread in the Mediterranean region, the Canaries and Northern Africa, there is also a single species in Southern Africa, spread from South Africa to Namibia.
The flowers are large fragrant trumpets with rice-paper textured petals, borne on 35 cm tall stems, often with the leaves. They scent the air around them in the evening. The trumpet colour is always white but the petal colour varies.
This new form has very decorative leaves which are spirally twisted and covered in a silvery pubescence which intensifies towards the leaf base, where it looks like velvet. This is so far known only from near Dwaalboom in Limpopo Province.
These are only for cool glasshouse cultivation in the UK. They are easily grown, in pots, in a well-drained, loam based compost but are not hardy anywhere in the British Isles.
