Baboon Root (Babiana plicata)
At a glance
- Exposure
- Full sun
- Frost limit
- −6.7 °C
Cultivation
An easily grown plant, it requires a warm, sunny, sheltered position in a well-drained light sandy soil. Plants are only reliably hardy in the milder areas of Britain and are best cultivated in pots in a cold greenhouse in most parts of the country. Plant the corms 20 - 25cm deep. The growing plant resents root disturbance.
Propagation
Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cool greenhouse, it will germinate in the spring. Sow the seed thinly so that it does not need to be thinned and grow the young plants on for their first year without disturbance. Give an occasional liquid feed to ensure that they do not become nutrient deficient. Pot the small bulbs up when they are dormant, placing 2 - 3 bulbs in each pot, and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least the next year. Plant them out into their permanent positions when the plants are dormant in the autumn. Division of offsets when the plant is dormant in the autumn. They are freely produced. The offsets can be planted direct into their permanent positions if required.
Edible uses
Corm - boiled.
Habitat
Sandy soils on flat land and mountain sides.
Native range
S. Africa.