Impala Lily, Part 2
Created | Updated Feb 3, 2013
Impala Lily, Part Two
Willem says: 'The Phyto-Philes are for plant lovers of every size and shape, colour and flavour. As with my Colours of Wildlife column, I'll be featuring one species per article, illustrated with sketches, paintings, and/or photos. Over time I hope to be showcasing the amazing diversity of weird and wonderful plants that occur in South Africa, while also from time to time looking at the flora of other countries. While featuring many spectacular species, I'll not be neglecting the smaller, more humble kinds that are nevertheless fascinating in their own right.'
When not in flower their contorted fat stems and branches give them a lot of character. But what a surprise when the flowers emerge! These hardy, craggy succulent specimens suddenly become objects of delicate beauty. The flowers emerge in masses from the tips of the branches in late Winter, when the plant is leafless and the rest of the landscape is also barren and dry. They are red on the outside fading to white on the inside, with crinkly margins. The flowers individually reach 5 cm 2” in diameter, with a tube about the same length, and are beautiful enough in themselves. The first sketch shows them up close. The entire plant can be covered in these lovely flowers, forming patches of red and pink amidst the grey boulders and brown, dry grass. In the garden they can be just as showy, as shown by the photo of one belonging to a friend of mine.
The flowers are pollinated by a variety of insects, leading to the forming of the fruit. These are paired follicles typical of the family. They are long and pointed, up to 25 cm/10” in length, and stand at an angle of 180 degrees to each other – in other words they form a line, one pointing in the direction opposite to the other. They are called 'bokhorings' (goat or antelope's horns) in Afrikaans. The seeds, which I've already described, are released from these and blown by the wind until they find a little crack where they can lodge and sprout if there's sufficient rain come Spring.
In Spring the plant itself will sprout leaves. These are somewhat leathery and shiny, having a glazed appearance. They can grow to 12.5 cm/5” in length, and are usually rather sparse, but in good conditions can cover the plant as shown in my final photo, of a few specimens the biggest of which is almost 2m/6'7” tall, which are part of a large succulent collection not far from where I live.
These plants have traditionally been used by the San people, often called Bushmen, for making poison arrows. The sap, which is somewhat toxic as I mentioned, needs to be concentrated. The thickest, juiciest parts of the stem and caudex are chosen for this, and heated over a fire; the sap will become sticky and syrupy and can be collected on a piece of wood as it slowly drips out. From there it is applied to the wooden shaft of the arrow or at the point right where the metal tip is attached. The poison will kill large antelopes like gemsbok or kudu within a couple of hours, and smaller antelope like springbok within an hour. The latex is sometimes mixed with that of species of Euphorbia. Nowadays the closely related species Adenium boehmianum which is found in Namibia is actually the one mostly used for arrow poison, since the Bushmen don't occur in the main distribution area of the Impala Lily any more. To be honest they hardly occur or adhere to their traditional ways in Namibia any more either. The species Adenium oleifolium which occurs in Botswana was also used, but this is now a very rare species. Another use of the toxic sap is as a fish poison, which I also described in my Tree Euphorbia article. Concentrations of poison that are harmless to humans are still adequate to kill or knock out fish.
But mainly the value of this species is its beauty and overall weirdness. They are currently very popular with succulent collectors and are grown all over the world. There are many cases where they are hybridized with forms found in other countries and currently a vast variety of flower colours and patterns can be found. I shall always be partial to the forms as they are found in nature, so I am personally growing the 'real' Impala Lily same as the ones to be found in the 'veld. This can at any rate become a spectacular specimen. It takes many years for the stems to become thick and gnarly, and also the floral display will improve from year to year. To grow best, this one needs a warm climate – outside of the tropics and subtropics they are best grown in hothouses – that is not too wet. It needs to be kept totally dry for the entire Winter while the plant is leafless and resting. Plants will grow well in light shade, but full sun is necessary for best flowering. Impala lilies are easy to grow from seed; seed can be collected by putting silk stockings over the follicles after they form, to prevent the seeds from all being blown away by the wind when the follicles split open. But impala lilies can also be grown from cuttings. These should best be taken in early Spring, left to dry out in a shady place for a week or two before being planted in a sandy medium in a warm, shady place and kept on the dry side of moist rather than wet until they root. Cuttings do not form as thick basal trunks as plants grown from seeds, but will still flower beautifully.
