€15,90

Ledebouria socialis (Baker) Jessop — Silver African Hyacinth, Silver Squill

🌱 Morphology
It looks like a small colony of botanical jewels: the bulbs, in reddish and silvery tones, protrude above the substrate, while from each one emerges a small fan of leaves covered in brushstroke-like spots. Over time, the bulbs multiply and form compact clusters, turning a single plant into a true colony.

It is a small, densely tufted bulbous geophyte. The bulbs are epigeal, reddish in color, and produce numerous offsets that form colonies. Each bulb typically develops 3–5 fleshy, lanceolate or triangular leaves with a silvery background and green or brown spots on the adaxial surface; the underside can vary from green to purple. The leaf coloration and pattern exhibit notable variability.

🌍 Distribution, habitat, and family
It belongs to the Asparagaceae family and is endemic to the Eastern Cape province, South Africa, where it is distributed from Hankey to East London. It inhabits mainly evergreen forests and river valley thickets, on stony, shallow soils. It is a species adapted to prolonged periods of drought. SANBI considers it Least Concern (LC) due to its wide distribution and absence of significant threats.

❄️ Temperature — USDA Zone 9a–11b
It tolerates minimum temperatures down to −6.7 ºC in dry, well-acclimated specimens during brief exposures. The bulb is much more resistant during dormancy than the active aerial part. In cultivation, it is advisable to keep it dry during cold spells and especially avoid excess winter moisture.

☀️ Lighting
It is a particularly adaptable species in terms of lighting. It can grow from partial shade to bright situations, and even tolerate relatively dense shade, although with good light, it develops more compact vegetation and more pronounced leaf coloration. During active growth, a daily light integral (DLI) of approximately 18–25 mol/m²/day (PAR) is recommended.

💧 Growth cycle and watering
Winter dormancy. Its growth is linked to favorable periods of temperature and water availability. During active growth, it is recommended to water abundantly and allow the substrate to dry out completely before the next watering. In the face of prolonged drought, it may lose its leaves and remain dormant, using the bulb's reserves. In winter, watering should be greatly reduced, keeping the substrate practically dry.

🌸 Flowering
The flowers appear on small, erect spikes, generally at the beginning of summer in their natural habitat. They are small, mainly green and white with pinkish tones, and feature highly visible purple stamens that protrude from the recurved tepals. In cultivation, it may bloom more irregularly and over a longer period.

🌿 Nutrition
During the active growth period, a specific fertilizer for succulents with a high content of assimilable calcium, such as Desert CHOICE® Succulents, is recommended, applied once a month during watering.

This is an inimitable xerophyte grown in Madrid in a technological square pot and with the substrate activated with mycorrhizal fungi and biofungicides.

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