Bowiea volubilis, a very curious plant

From South Africa we can find in nurseries -especially if they specialize in succulent plants- very curious plants, such as bowiea volubilis. When you see it for the first time, you immediately think that it might just be related to onions, since its strange leaves come out of a bulb that looks similar to the one above. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, it belongs to the asparagus family, the Asparagaceae.

What's more: their care and maintenance are very similar to those needed by the plants from which we take asparagus, so that it won't be difficult for us to keep her alive for long. And less after reading your file 🙂.

Origin and characteristics

Our protagonist it is a herbaceous, perennial and bulbous plant native to the African continent, especially in the southern part of the country. Its scientific name is bowiea volubilis and it is really a plant being that attracts a lot of attention, since its stems are cylindrical and arched of an intense green color that seem to want to form a tangle of twigs up to 2 meters long.

Towards the summer it produces greenish bract flowers, which arise from a main stem. Once they are pollinated, the fruit begins to ripen, which will be a brown ovoid capsule.

What are the cares?

If you want to get a copy, we recommend providing the following care:

• Location: outside, in full sun. Indoors, it must be in a room with plenty of natural light.
• Substratum: it must have good drainage. It is highly advisable to simply plant it on the pumice, or by mixing universal growing substrate mixed with perlite in equal parts.
• Irrigation: 2 or 3 times a week in summer, and a little less the rest of the year.
• Subscriber: from spring to summer with a liquid fertilizer for cacti and other succulents following the instructions specified on the package.
• Transplant: every two years. The bulb must be exposed.
• Rusticity: it is very sensitive to cold. The minimum temperature must be 10ºC.

What did you think of bowiea volubilis?