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  Rauhia peruviana
(Syn: Rauhia multiflora)
CACTUS ART
NURSERY

Cultivation and Mail Sale
of Cacti and Succulents.


Rauhia peruviana
Rare evergreen bulbous plants notable for its paired tongue-like and fleshy leaves.
 

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Family: Amaryllidaceae

Scientific name:  Rauhia peruviana Traub 1957

The right name might be Rauhia multiflora Ravenna 1969.

Origin:  It is found in Maranon and Utcumbamba river valleys in Northern Peru at 1000-1500 meters.

Habitat: Seasonally dry, open woods and rocky slopes.

Common English Names include:

Etymology:

Synonyms:

  • Rauhia multiflora (Knuth) Ravenna
    In: Pl. Life 25:61, 1969A
  • Callithauma spathulatum Herb. 1827
  • Phaedranassa multiflora Kunth 1850
  • Phaedranassa megistophylla Kraenzl. 1917
  • Rauhia megistophylla Traub 1966B
Description: Rauhnia are evergreen bulbous plants notable for their large and fleshy leaves and closely related to Eucrosia and Phaedranassa.
Bulb: The large obovoid onion is up to15 centimetres in diameter, tunics fleshy, withering papery, brown.
Roots: Swollen succulent and retractile.
Leaves: Each bulb has only a pair of spreading short leaves. When mature these leaves are 4-15 cm wide and 20-30 cm long. They are widely petiolate, rounded, ovate, tongue like, very carnose, thick, epidermis with mircopapillae, sometimes tessellated with silver when juvenile.
Flowers: The numerous flowers are borne on a tall stem (50-120 cm) with a 8-to 25 flowerd umbel of 9 cm long, they are blue-green with little white with curved stamens. Pedicel 3-9 cm, perianth tube approx 2,2 cm long, Tepals 4-5 cm long. Filaments 2 shorter 3 cm long, 4 longer up to 3,6 cm long. Style declinate, as long as or longer than the stamens.
Blooming season:
Flowers will appear after the winter dormant period.
Seeds: Brown or black.


 

 


Cultivation:
It is an easy and adaptable plant to grow and it is well suited for containers growing happily in a pot for many years.  It makes a good but odd houseplant or specimen. Prefers some direct sun but will scorch in hot, sunny, dry locations. In the greenhouse, use a suffice cactus soil with some peat (a soil that retains water yet drains well). The plants are allowed to dry slightly in-between waterings. If the plants are allowed to dry too much, they will go dormant. During the winter months, the plants are allowed to go dormant and are stored in the cold storage until spring. Temperature: Reportedly hardy down to -5°C. It can be planted undergrounds, with a thin soil layer on it, or just leave it “on” the ground, it will root anyway, and the chances of getting rot are smaller this way rather than planted undergrounds (although it grows slower).
Mealy bugs seem to be a problem, especially in older specimens that have formed a clump of bulbs. They hide in the residue of the old, dry, dead bulb scales.
Propagation: Division, seeds. Copious seed is also produced and germinate easily.  It is best to propagate seeds in the spring through summer in a mixture of moist peat and perlite. Cover the pot and plant with a plastic bag secured by a rubber band to prevent the moisture from escaping. Place in indirect sunlight or under a fluorescent light. Repot in its regular mix after it has been growing for a while. After dividing plant or removing offsets, pot it in its regular potting mix.

Photo gallery: Alphabetical listing of Cactus and Succulent pictures published in this site.

Photo gallery RAUHIA

Home | E-mail | Plant files | Mail Sale Catalogue | Links | Information | Search

All the information and photos in cactus art files are now available also in the new the Encyclopaedia of Bulbs. We hope you find this new site informative and useful.