Eucomis bicolor

If you have not already found the amazing South African bed in Osborn’s Field (Area J) you really should head there to enjoy the interesting and colourful collection of flowering plants from the different habitats of that country. These were all grown from seed by Friends Trish and Peter Kohn. A few of the 13 species of bulbous Eucomis are in flower, including the increasingly popular E. bicolor known as the pineapple lily. With its upright racemes of starry pale green flowers topped with a tuft of leafy bracts it is reminiscent of pineapple. These rise from basal rosettes of leaves on stems flecked dark red. The plants originate in the summer rainfall area of Southern Africa and were introduced to Britain in 1788.