Silver Squill ​(ledebouria socialis)

Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo is home to many animals, and we also cultivate plants from those animals’ habitats. You may see some of these plants in the animals” habitats or you can see them in our Victorian Greenhouse. Many of the plants are endangered, just like the animals.

DESCRIPTION: Ledebouria socialis is an attractive low-growing plant with teardrop-shaped bulbs, usually entirely above the ground, and lance-shaped, somewhat spreading leaves. It is one of the most widely cultivated bulbs favored by succulent growers. The bulbs are up to 0.8 inches (2 cm) long and usually produce colonies vegetatively. The leaves are somewhat fleshy, reaching up to 4 inches (10 cm) in length and 0.6 inches (1.5 cm) in width. They are often deep pink or violet below and silvery, adorned with green to brown blotches on the upper surface. From late winter to spring, 10 to 30 small bell-shaped flowers rise on delicate pink, more or less erect stalks just above the foliage. The flowers have greenish petals with white markings and a flush of pink and purple stamens bearing small, pale yellow anthers.

RANGE: Native to the eastern cape providence of South Africa.

HABITAT: It often grows on rather dry slopes between Uitenhage and East London in the Eastern Cape province.

Photo: World of Succulents