BLOSSOMS & BEYOND

An incredibly beautiful sub-Saharan lilly that grows from a "rhizomatous bulb." It will start to appear just after the rains, often at the base of the trees. Often seen in the Masai Mara, in Kidepo and Murchison falls and of course all of Northern Tanzania from Tarangirie to Rubondo island on Lake Victoria.

That globe-shaped top is called an umbel and can have up to 200 little flowers. There are three recognized subspecies. Strongly toxic like other Scadoxus species, it has been used traditionally as a concoction used to coat the tips of poison-arrows, also in fishing poisons and of course in traditional medicine.

You’ll see in my ‘editor’s photo’ I am posing with six umbels - this is the first time I have seen so many and thus I had to stop and get the obligatory photo!