Agapanthus praecox subsp. orientalis
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
agapanthus, lily of the Nile
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Monocots
Flower colours
Blue, White
Detailed description
Robust, clump-forming perennial. Rhizomes thick, long, white. Leaves 20-70 x 2-6 cm, leathery, arching, arising from base in clumps up to 20, sap watery. Flowers small, purplish-blue or white, in many-flowered umbrella-shaped clusters 7 x 5 cm, Dec-Feb. Seeds thin, papery, black.
Similar taxa
Easily identified by the fleshy, strap-like green leave and large blue or white flowers.
Habitat
Terrestrial.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Alliaceae
Ecology
Flowering
December, January, February
Year naturalised
1952
Origin
South Africa
Reason for introduction
Ornamental
Tolerances
The plant can survive mowing, grazing, insects and sprays.
Life cycle
Perennial.
Other information
Etymology
agapanthus: From the Greek agape, meaning ‘love’, and anthos, meaning ‘flower’, translating broadly as the flower of love.
orientalis: From the Latin orientale, meaning ‘eastern’ but sometimes also translated as ‘from the Orient’.
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
AGAPSO