Bulbine is a genus of plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

s in the family Xanthorrhoeaceae

Xanthorrhoeaceae

Xanthorrhoeaceae is the botanical name of a family of flowering plants in the order Asparagales. Such a family has been recognized by most taxonomists, but the circumscription of the family has varied wildly....

, subfamily Asphodeloideae, named for the bulb-shaped tuber

Tuber

Tubers are various types of modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients. They are used by plants to survive the winter or dry months and provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing season and they are a means of asexual reproduction...

 shown by many of the species. (Formerly it was has been placed in the Liliaceae

Liliaceae

The Liliaceae, or the lily family, is a family of monocotyledons in the order Liliales. Plants in this family have linear leaves, mostly with parallel veins but with several having net venation , and flower arranged in threes. Several have bulbs, while others have rhizomes...

.) Bulbine is found chiefly in Southern Africa

Southern Africa

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...

, with few species extending into tropical Africa

Tropical Africa

Although tropical Africa is most familiar in the West as depicted by its rain forests, this region of Africa is far more diverse. While the tropics are thought of as regions with warm to hot moist climates caused by latitude and the tropical rain belt, the geology of areas, particularly mountain...

 and a few species in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

Bulbine is characterised by having flowers borne in lax or compound raceme

Raceme

A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...

s, and by being succulent

Succulent plant

Succulent plants, also known as succulents or fat plants, are water-retaining plants adapted to arid climates or soil conditions. Succulent plants store water in their leaves, stems, and also in roots...

. The flowers are mostly yellow, with bearded stamen

Stamen

The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...

s, although sometimes white, orange or pink. Several species are grown in gardens, although the most common species in the horticultural trade is B. frutescens

Bulbine frutescens

Bulbine frutescens is a species of flowering plant in the genus Bulbine....

. Species of Bulbine resemble Haworthia

Haworthia

Haworthia is a genus of flowering plants within the family Xanthorrhoeaceae, subfamily Asphodeloideae.. They are small solitary or clump-forming and endemic to South Africa. Some species have firm, tough leaves, usually dark green in color, whereas other are soft and semi-translucent. Their...

and Aloe

Aloe

Aloe , also Aloë, is a genus containing about 500 species of flowering succulent plants. The most common and well known of these is Aloe vera, or "true aloe"....

in appearance, but with soft fleshy leaves, many with tuber

Tuber

Tubers are various types of modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients. They are used by plants to survive the winter or dry months and provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing season and they are a means of asexual reproduction...

ous root

Root

In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial or aerating . Furthermore, a stem normally occurring below ground is not exceptional either...

s or a caudex

Caudex

A caudex is a form of stem morphology appearing as a thickened, short, perennial stem that is either underground or near ground level . It may be swollen for the purpose of water storage, especially in xerophytes...

. The various species grow as shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

s, rough tough weed

Weed

A weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, especially farm fields and gardens, but also lawns, parks, woods, and other areas. More specifically, the term is often used to...

y perennials, dwarf geophytes, and soft annual

Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...

s. Many of the dwarf species have small, dome-shaped tubers.

Dormancy

Dormancy

Dormancy is a period in an organism's life cycle when growth, development, and physical activity are temporarily stopped. This minimizes metabolic activity and therefore helps an organism to conserve energy. Dormancy tends to be closely associated with environmental conditions...

 starts in late spring and lasts until mid autumn, but can vary between species and in different conditions. Leaves die and drop and the roots contract into the caudex leaving no visible sign of life on the surface. Propagation

Plant propagation

Plant propagation is the process of creating new plants from a variety of sources: seeds, cuttings, bulbs and other plant parts. Plant propagation can also refer to the artificial or natural dispersal of plants.-Sexual propagation :...

 is mostly by seed although cutting

Cutting

Cutting is the separation of a physical object, or a portion of a physical object, into two portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. An implement commonly used for cutting is the knife or in medical cases the scalpel...

s are possible as some species will form multiple heads or offsets.

Species

Bulbine contains approximately 160 species.

• Bulbine abyssinica
• Bulbine acaulis
• Bulbine adnutans
• Bulbine alata
• Bulbine alba
• Bulbine alooides
• Bulbine altissima
• Bulbine alveolata
• Bulbine angustifolia
• Bulbine annua
• Bulbine asiatica
• Bulbine asphodeloides
• Bulbine australis
• Bulbine bachmanniana
• Bulbine bachmannii
• Bulbine bisulcata
• Bulbine brevifolia
• Bulbine breviracemosa
• Bulbine brunsvigiifolia
• Bulbine bruynsii
• Bulbine bulbosa
  Bulbine bulbosa
  Bulbine bulbosa is a flowering plant in the genus Bulbine, endemic to Australia.-Description:B. bulbosa grows often dense colonies up to about 75 cms with succulent, greyish green, narrowly lanceolate leaves. It has star shaped, sweet smelling yellow flowers borne on long vertical flowering stalks...
  
  
• Bulbine caespitosa
• Bulbine canaliculata
• Bulbine capensis
• Bulbine capitata
• Bulbine cataphyllata
• Bulbine cauda-felis
• Bulbine caudata
• Bulbine caulescens
• Bulbine cepacea
• Bulbine ciliata
• Bulbine circinata
• Bulbine coetzeei
• Bulbine concinna
• Bulbine crassa
• Bulbine cremnophila
• Bulbine crispa
• Bulbine crocea
• Bulbine curvifolia
• Bulbine dactylopsoides
• Bulbine decurvata

• Bulbine densiflora
• Bulbine dielsii
• Bulbine diphylla
• Bulbine disimilis
• Bulbine dubia
• Bulbine elongata
• Bulbine ensifolia
• Bulbine erectipilosa
• Bulbine erumpens
• Bulbine esterhuyseniae
• Bulbine falcata
• Bulbine fallax
• Bulbine favosa
• Bulbine filifolia
• Bulbine fistulosa
• Bulbine flexicaulis
• Bulbine flexuosa
• Bulbine floribunda
• Bulbine foleyi
• Bulbine fragilis
• Bulbine francescae
  Bulbine francescae
  Bulbine francescae is a species of plant in the genus Bulbine. It is endemic to Namibia. Its natural habitat is rocky areas.-References:* Loots, S. & Craven, P. 2004. . Downloaded on 20 August 2007....
  
  
• Bulbine fraseri
• Bulbine frazeri
• Bulbine frutescens
  Bulbine frutescens
  Bulbine frutescens is a species of flowering plant in the genus Bulbine....
  
  
• Bulbine glauca
• Bulbine graminea
• Bulbine hamata
• Bulbine hantamensis
• Bulbine haworthioides
• Bulbine hispida
• Bulbine hookeri
• Bulbine huilensis
• Bulbine inamarxiae
• Bulbine incurva
• Bulbine inexpectata
• Bulbine inflata
• Bulbine inops
• Bulbine lagopus
• Bulbine lamprophylla
• Bulbine latibracteata
• Bulbine latifolia

• Bulbine latitepala
• Bulbine lavrani
• Bulbine laxiflora
• Bulbine lolita
• Bulbine longifolia
• Bulbine longiscapa
• Bulbine louwii
• Bulbine lydenburgensis
• Bulbine mackenii
• Bulbine macrophylla
• Bulbine mallyana
• Bulbine margarethae
• Bulbine mayori
• Bulbine meiringii
• Bulbine melanovaginata
• Bulbine mesembryanthemoides
• Bulbine mettinghii
• Bulbine migiurtina
• Bulbine minima
• Bulbine monophylla
• Bulbine muscicola
• Bulbine namaensis
  Bulbine namaensis
  Bulbine namaensis is a species of plant in the genus Bulbine. It is endemic to Namibia. Its natural habitat is dry savanna.-References:* Craven, P. & Loots, S. 2004. . Downloaded on 20 August 2007....
  
  
• Bulbine narcissifolia
• Bulbine natalensis
• Bulbine navicularifolia
• Bulbine nigra
• Bulbine nutans
• Bulbine ophiophylla
• Bulbine orchioides
• Bulbine pallida
• Bulbine parviflora
• Bulbine patersoniae
• Bulbine pendens
• Bulbine pendula
• Bulbine planifolia
• Bulbine platyphylla
• Bulbine praemorsa
• Bulbine pugioniformis
• Bulbine pusilla
• Bulbine quartzicola
• Bulbine ramosa

• Bulbine retinens
• Bulbine rhopalophylla
• Bulbine rigidula
• Bulbine rostrata
• Bulbine rupicola
• Bulbine scabra
• Bulbine sedifolia
• Bulbine seineri
• Bulbine semenaliundata
• Bulbine semibarbata
  Bulbine semibarbata
  Bulbine semibarbata, commonly known as Leek Lily, Native Leek or Wild Onion, is a species of annual herb native to Australia.-Taxonomy:...
  
  
• Bulbine setifera
• Bulbine stenophylla
• Bulbine stolonifera
• Bulbine striata
• Bulbine suavis
• Bulbine subbarbata
• Bulbine succulenta
• Bulbine suurbergensis
• Bulbine tenuifolia
• Bulbine tetraphylla
• Bulbine thomasiae
• Bulbine torsiva
• Bulbine torta
• Bulbine tortifolia
• Bulbine transvaalensis
• Bulbine trichophylla
• Bulbine triebneri
• Bulbine triquetra
• Bulbine truncata
• Bulbine tuberosa
• Bulbine uncinata
• Bulbine undulata
• Bulbine unifolia
• Bulbine urgineoides
• Bulbine vagans
• Bulbine vesicularis
• Bulbine vitrea
• Bulbine vittatifolia
• Bulbine wiesei
• Bulbine xanthobotrys
• Bulbine zeyheri