Blackberry lily (Belamcanda chinensis) is actually an iris.
It has just begun to bloom now in my garden. I acquired Belamcanda from a native plant sale at our local library then waited several years for any show.
The first year there were just a couple green leaves spiking up, tall and thin. Luckily I saved the tag or they would have been pulled as weeds.
The spent flower curls upon itself like Christmas candy.
It stands erect like a toy soldier protecting the maturing seed pod below.
Gracefully growing several stems, each two-three feet high, the Blackberry lily now produces about a dozen delicate two-inch blooms.
Eventually the fruit pods explode and the plant's namesakes appear, deep black "berries" that cling well into the winter before finally dropping off for propagation, completing the life cycle.
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7 comments:
how cool! love the twisty candy stick!
Hmmm. I used to have a couple of these. I think they must have been over run by irises as I don't think they are there anymore. I must check!
this is so interesting, i really like the curled up flower. it does look like a candy stick like tex said
What an amazing plant. I had one with similar flowers a few houses ago and had forgotten about it.I have a little dog named Lily so you can tell it is a favorite flower.
I knew the leaves looked like iris, but didn't know blackberry lilies were a kind of iris.
Mine reseed around. They are just now blooming, too.
I like how it looks like floating in the air !
Amazing! I found my first plants of Belamcanda chinensis just yesterday in Jones County. Assumed it was a lily but identified it when I backed out of the Liliaceae and worked on color and leaf arrangement. It's a charming flower
Thanks for confirming that the 'twisted' flowers are, indeed, spent flowers. 'My' plants are developing seedpods. I've recorded the GPS coordinates so that I can go back and look for seeds when there may not be any blooms.
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