5 Subgenus Codonocrinum

V: Subgenus Codonocrinum: Forms with funnel-form, broad petaled blossoms and curved tepaltubes, distinctly pedicellated and sequentially flowering. Mostly south central and South African.

Figure 33 Fig. 33: Crinum macowanii: One of the numerous geographical variants found scattered from the Congo down to the south-eastern portion of Cape Province. Some forms are tetraploids and have been crossed with the Orange River hexaploid C. bulbispermumi, giving immense hybrids.
Figure 34 Fig. 34: C. macowanii variant. Many variations exist, some with pure white fairly compact blossoms to those with red keels, and widely expanded petals. Some buds suggest partially inflated balloons.
Figure 35 Fig. 35: C. macowanii variant.
Figure 36 Fig. 36: Crinum bulbispermum variabilis. Excluding some two-flowered Crinum species, all subtropical Codonocrinum subgenera forms have pedicellated blossoms which flower sequentially one to three days apart. This bulb was collected in 1938 along the Orange River by Dr. Rhodin from U. C. Berkeley. It is a hexaploid. 'Cape Dawn' is its hybrid with C. macowanii above.
Figure 37 Fig. 37: A C. bulbispermum variant. This hexaploid form grows along the Orange River in South Africa.

It crosses with some polyploid Crinum giving colorful hybrids. Most are sterile.

Figure 38 Fig. 38: Another C. bulbispermum variabilis, which changes color with age. Some tetraploid forms seemingly exist, but their hybrids take years to mature, and give no offsets. Propagation is by bulb cuttage.
Figure 39 Fig. 39: Crinum moorei Hooker. A Natal (now KwaZulu) species commonly grown in Californian gardens. It requires part shade and will outcross with other species, but is prone to mislead one by its inclination to produce maternal apogamic seed, so use it as a pollen parent. Some tetraploid forms exist. Greg Rettit reports having ten distinct forms.
Figure 40 Fig. 40: Crinum moorei var. schmidtii: An all white pigment-free variant which has a unique bified stigma which confirms identity. It is genetically distinct from the common C. moorei forms but will outcross with some other Crinum forms.
Figure 41 Fig. 41: Another C. moorei var. schmidtii example: A typical broad petal form.

The following subgenus Codonocrinum members have sessile blossoms which flower in clusters of 3 to 5 blossoms at a time. These are genetically distinct from the pedicellated forms.
Figure 42 Fig. 42: Crinum jagus: (ex C. giganteum). There are innumerable variants of the C. jagus: scattered across Tropical Africa and found as long-established escapes in central and tropical South America. The swamp forms often have broad foliage while the drier savanna forms usually have more erect sabre-like foliage. Many are quite fragrant, but breeders have found the plants disinclined to outcross. Only one or two known hybrids exist. We show a number of forms since written or verbal descriptions cannot convey the distinctions commonly encountered blossomwise.
Figure 43 Fig. 43: C. jagus var. scillifolia with erect foliage. This species is adapted to drier areas and is a good garden plant.
Figure 44 Fig. 44: C. jagus var noble: with channeled foliage.
Figure 45 Fig. 45: C. jagus var. vanillodorum with broad wavy foliage. This is a swamp plant.
Figure 46 Fig. 46: C. jagus var. rattrayii with quite rigid erect foliage. Native to the Great Rift area and suitable to dry locations.
Figure 47 Fig. 47: Another example of C. jagus var rattrayii blossoms.
Figure 48 Fig. 48: A C. jagus variant noted at the Fairchild Gardens.
Figure 49 Fig. 49: Crinum scabrum Herbert. In 1833 William Herbert named an exotic Crinum received from Brazil, the C. scabrum, not knowing the bulb was Tropical African. This is the Brazilian exotic which compares closely with Herbert's holotype illustration. We thank Willem Reuter for this most informative photograph. Many geographical variants and genetic forms exist since the plants are scattered over some 5,000 miles of tropical Africa from Sierra Leone to Ethiopia. Herbert recognized C. scabrum as a member of his series Ornatae, a distinct tropical group.
Figure 50 Fig. 50: A C. scabrum variant, sometimes identified as C. sanderianum Baker (C. ornatum Bury Hexandria plantae. t.18, 1834) and similar to Ehret's 1748 illustration of Lillium narcessus africanus from Gulf Coast, Ghana.
Figure 51 Fig. 51: A C. scabrum intraspecific cross. Mrs. D. C. Sheppard has been quite successful in intercrossing various C. scabrum forms and the second generation have indicated considerable diversity and vigor. All have promise as breeding stock since they have quantities of seed.
Figure 52 Fig. 52: Crinum fimbriatulum Baker. This is an inland Angolan form previously identified as C. kirckii by Verdoorn. Photo by Gordon McNeil. This form is closely allied to C. scabrum. A related form in Chad and the Congo is inclined to have more cernuous blossoms.
Figure 53 Fig. 53: A photo identified as C. verdoorniae by the late Gordon McNeil, but apparently is C. fimbriatulum.
Figure 54 Fig. 54: Recently identified as a 4-flowered Congo Crinum species allied to Crinum nubicum (Chev.) L. S. Hannibal (ex C. humilis Chev. non Herb.), native to Zaire (Congo). Others are found throughout the tropics from Chad and down into south central Africa. These small two-flowered Crinum are related to C. distichum Herb., or A. ornatum Aiton (Syn. C. brousonetii sensu Herb.) and represented by Kew specimens. This is a a unique genetic race. Several forms have their umbels subsurface like C. acule Baker. Recently F. N. Hepper decided that C. scabrum and all allied tropical forms were a single common species: namely C. ornatum (Aiton) Bury, with the original A. ornata Aiton specimen as the holotype. For plant breeders this lumping rather confuses the issue since their various crossings indicate specific types which best be identified by their classical names.
Figure 55 Fig. 55: Crinum abyssinicum, also a sessile flowered Ornatae member, was first introduced to California by Luther Burbank. Several variants have been collected since. I have three which for genetic distinctions fail to cross, but will outcross with other members of the series. Crinum schimperi, a larger form, is closely allied, as as is C. album (ex C. yemense) and the humid tropical C. scabrum and C. zeylanicum. Since C. abysinnicum is a high semi-desert form, it, like C. schimperi, is well adapted to the dry summers of California and is a good breeder. A number of hybrids have viable pollen, like 'Peach Blow', a cross with C. americanum.
Figure 56 Fig. 56: Crinum latifolium (L.) L., a member of the series Ornatae, is native to India and Sri Lanka. There are several closely related forms like C. latifolium, C. careyanum, and C. herbertianum. All are good breeders but strictly tropical, thus their hybrids need winter protection in case of frosts. Photo by D. H. Nicolson.
Figure 57 Fig. 57: C. zeylanicum, a closely allied species, as noted, J. D. Hooker classed C. zeylanicum, C. careyanum, C. moluccanum, C. speciosum, and other allied asian forms all as C. latifolium, all due to their close inter-relationship. Many of his specimens are filed in the British Museum under C. latifolium.
Figure 58 Fig. 58: Crinum graminicola Verdoorn, and a number of associated forms are found about the grasslands of the Mid and North Transvaal. Gordon McNeil had quite a collection of native Crinum. We attempted to have his garden recognized as a national heritage, but his property is now part of a native reserve, and the natives are inclined to use all bulbs for medicinal purposes, whether beneficial or toxic.
Figure 59 Fig. 59: Identified by Gordon as a C. graminicola variant which is common to the Chobe River area near the Zambian border. No name is available and the bulb is not in circulation.
Figure 60 Fig. 60: Another Chobe River unknown species collected by G. McNeil.
Figure 61 Fig. 61: A species identified as near the lost C. delagoense, also collected by G. McNeil along the Chobe River. This species is reportedly quite variable and may be allied to C. delagoense which seems fairly adaptive to garden use.