Clivia glossary

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A

Akebono

A variegation pattern with pale, misty bands across otherwise green leaves, developed by Japanese breeders.

Albino

A seedling with no green colour at all. It can't make its own food and dies once the seed's reserves run out.

Anther

The pollen-bearing tip of a stamen. Each clivia flower has six.

Anthocyanin

The red to pink pigment in clivia flowers, stems and berries. Yellow clivias lack it; orange ones combine it with yellow carotenoids.

B

Backcross

Crossing a seedling back to one of its parents, often to bring a hidden trait such as yellow back into view.

Berry

The fleshy fruit that forms after a flower is pollinated. It takes about 9 to 12 months to ripen and holds one to a few large seeds.

Bicolour

A flower showing two clearly different colours, for example a pale centre with darker outer petals.

Blush

A yellow or cream flower with pink to red flushing, usually towards the petal edges.

Broad leaf

A plant with unusually wide, often short and thick leaves, a trait prized by Japanese and Chinese breeders.

C

Carotenoid

The group of yellow and orange pigments in clivia flowers.

Citrina

From variety citrina, the botanical name given in 1899 to the wild yellow form of the common clivia, first recorded in 1888.

Cultivar

A selected plant given a name, written in single quotes, such as 'Vico Yellow'. Only offsets are exact copies; seed from a cultivar varies.

D

Daruma

A Japanese strain of clivia with short, broad, thick leaves, named after the round Daruma doll.

E

Emasculation

Removing a flower's anthers before they release pollen, so the flower can't pollinate itself.

F

F1

The first generation of seedlings from crossing two different plants.

F2

The next generation, from crossing two F1 siblings or selfing an F1. Hidden recessive traits often reappear here.

Fukurin

Variegation with pale leaf margins and a green centre. It doesn't come true from seed, so it is kept by division.

G

Group 1

The main genetic group of yellow clivias. They show no red pigment in flowers or berries, and Group 1 crossed with Group 1 gives yellow seedlings.

Group 2

A second, genetically different group of yellows. Group 2 crossed with Group 2 usually gives yellow, but crossed with Group 1 it gives orange.

Group 3

A label some breeders use for further yellow types, often with pink flushing and red berries. This grouping is still being worked out.

I

Interspecific

A hybrid between two different clivia species, such as the common clivia crossed with one of the pendulous species.

M

Multipetal (multi-tepal)

A flower with more than the usual six tepals. Many multipetals vary from flower to flower and year to year.

O

Offset

A new shoot that grows from the base of a plant. Once it has its own roots it can be separated as an exact copy of the parent.

OP (open pollinated)

Seed from flowers pollinated naturally rather than by hand, so the pollen parent is unknown.

Ovary

The swollen part at the base of the flower, below the tepals, that becomes the berry.

P

Pastel

A loose term for soft flower colours such as peach, apricot, pink and cream blends.

Peach

A soft orange-pink flower colour. Peaches belong to several genetic groups, and not all of them breed true when crossed together.

Pedicel

The short stalk of a single flower within the flower head. A good place to tie a cross label.

Peduncle

The main flower stalk that carries the whole flower head up above the leaves.

Picotee

A pale flower with a narrow edge of darker colour on the tepals.

Pollen parent

The plant that supplied the pollen for a cross. It is written second in a cross name.

R

Radicle

The first root to emerge from a germinating seed.

Recessive

A trait that only shows when a plant carries two copies of the gene. Yellow and peach are recessive to orange.

S

Seed parent

The plant that was pollinated and carried the berries, also called the mother or pod parent. It is written first in a cross name.

Seedling base

The lowest part of a young seedling's leaves. From yellow parents, plain green bases mean yellow flowers and reddish maroon bases mean orange.

Self (x self)

Pollinating a flower with pollen from the same plant or one of its offsets.

Sib cross

Crossing two seedlings that came from the same cross.

Split for yellow

An orange-flowered plant carrying one hidden copy of a yellow gene. Two splits of the same group give about a quarter yellow seedlings.

Stamen

The male part of a flower: a thin filament topped by a pollen-bearing anther.

Stigma

The three-lobed tip of the flower's style that receives pollen. It is ready when the lobes open and look moist and sticky.

Striata

Variegation in lengthwise cream or yellow stripes. It is by far the most common type of variegate.

T

Tepal

One of the six 'petals' of a clivia flower. The outer three are usually a little narrower than the inner three.

U

Umbel

A rounded head of flowers on individual stalks that all arise from the top of the main stalk.

V

Variegate

A plant with stripes or patches of cream, yellow or white in its leaves.