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: We have named this African King because it is the largest macowanii that we grow. We grow over 1000 different crinum including about 350 of our own hybrids. We have several very nice macowanii varieties. These bulbs were originally imported from a grower in Africa in 2001 as small seedlings, about 1-2 years old. They first bloomed in April 2003 and formed some seed. In 2004 and 2005 they really started producing large quantities of seed (seeds range from the size of a small marble to almost ping-pong ball size). This is a bulb from the seeds that we started in the summer of 2004-5, so they are now a blooming size. They grow to about 3' tall with 4-5' leaves and have very large bulbs that will grow to over 6 in diameter. This is a choice crinum and one of the most rewarding to grow because of its size, beauty and good growth habits. There is a good possiblilty that this is actually a fertile hybrid, or at the least a cross of two different macowanii. Crinum macowanii is a species that forms seeds but almost never produces offsets. This is typical of many of the crinum species. On rare occasions they will form new offset bulbs but that usually happens only after a bulb is dug and nicked or damaged in some way around the basal plate (the bottom of the bulb where the roots form). African King has actually formed a few offsets bulbs for me in the first 12 years but not many. It is a prolific seed producer, however, and we have successfully used it as a seed parent or pollen parent in many crosses with other crinum species and hybrids. It is one of the most majestic and beautiful of all crinum. The scapes stay erect and are topped with white, ornamental blooms whose tips recurl back about 360 degrees. Since crinum live for decades, a clump of these bulbs can create a nice focal point in your flower beds that will be a treasure for decades to come. The flower buds swell up like baloons that are just being inflated.

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