Clivia Miniata

Habitat and Distribution

Miniata are always found under tree cover in evergreen forests, growing in well-drained leaf mould rich with humus between boulders on slopes in the area from Morgan's Bay in the Eastern Cape Province up into northern KwaZulu-Natal and Swaziland.

Plant Structure and Leaves

C.miniata grows to a height of around 80 cm.with a stem consisting of a compact rhizome, which only rarely becomes aerial when plants are very old. They sucker freely and can form large clumps if left undisturbed. The leaves are usually not more than 50 mm wide in natural populations, although in rare instances can be up to 90 mm. The leaves are about 1 metre in length, with exceptional example of up 1,84 m.

Flowers and Berries

The flower shapes in the wild vary from small and open with narrow tepals to large and trumpet-shaped with broad overlapping tepals. The inner tepals are usually broader than the outer tepals. Colours of the flowers in the wild is orange with a yellowish-white throat, although a colour range from whitish yellow through pale oranges, dark orange and approaching red is known. The very light and very dark colours are, however, rare. The flowers are borne in an umbel supported by a peduncle which clears the leaves, and the umbels can have in excess of 40 florets, although 20 is more usual. The seeds are carried in berries which have up to 20 seeds, although less than 10 is the norm.

Information from the Clivia Society