Search
Browse classification
Keys
- Key to the main groups of vascular plants
- Multi-access keys
CheckLists
Glossary
Bioregions & Vegetation

On Thursday, May 14^th, we will be rebuilding VicFlora to hopefully put an end to the performance issues VicFlora has been experiencing in the last few weeks. We hope to be able to do this without disruption to service, but unforeseen circumstances might lead to short outages during the day.

Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Asparagales
Amaryllidaceae
Nothoscordum
Sibling

Nothoscordum borbonicum

Kunth Fragrant False-garlic

Enum. Pl. 4: 462 (1843)

APNI

Taxonomic status Accepted

Occurrence status Present

Establishment means Introduced

Degree of establishment Established

Bulb ovoid, c. 1.5–2.5 cm diam., with numerous bulblets. Scape terete, solid, 20–100 cm high. Leaves 3–10, weakly erect, flat, with sheathing base, 15–60 cm long, 5–18 mm wide. Umbel loose, 8–20-flowered; spathe-bracts papery, ovate, c.1 cm long; pedicels 1.5–5 cm long; flowers scented, perianth segments obovate, 1–1.5 cm long, fused basally for c. 2 mm, mostly white, with reddish mid-vein; stamens slightly shorter than perianth segments; capsule 6 mm long; seeds c. 2 mm long, with finely wrinkled testa. Flowers Nov.–Feb.

MuM, Wim, VVP, VRiv, GipP, WaP, Gold, HSF. WA, SA, Qld, NSW, LHI, NI, ACT, Tas. Commonly a garden weed, and difficult to eradicate due to the numerous bulblets. Occasionally a weed of crops and pasture, but along the Wimmera River at Horsham it is reported as being abundant. Of scattered occurrence in Victoria, mostly north and west of Melbourne (Mildura area, Dimboola, Warracknabeal, Meredith, lower Goulburn valley, Melbourne suburbs, Dromana).

The identity of the plants naturalised in Australia is uncertain. It is unclear whether one or two species are present, and what name(s) should be applied. Ravenna (1991) treated Nothoscordum gracile and N. borbonicum as separate species, and he applied the name Nothoscordum borbonicum to the cosmopolitan weed. Not all workers have followed Ravenna (1991), and some workers treat N. borbonicum as a taxonomic synonym of N. gracile (the earlier published name). For pragmatic reasons, the nomenclature used here follows that of the Australian Plant Census.

Source:

Conran, J.G. (1994). Liliaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., ‍Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons‍, pp. 637–686. Inkata Press, Melbourne.

Updated by: Val Stajsic, 26 Mar. 2019

Spinning

Nothoscordum borbonicum (distribution map)

Spinning

kingdom

phylum

class

order

family

genus

Higher taxa

species

Nothoscordum borbonicum Kunth

Subordinate taxa

Misapplications

Nothoscordum gracile (Aiton) Stearn sensu Liliaceae
Nothoscordum inodorum (Aiton) G.Nicholson sensu A handbook to plants in Victoria: ferns, conifers and monocotyledons

Ravenna, P. (1991). Nothoscordum gracile and N. borbonicum (Alliaceae). Taxon 40: 485–487.

Flora of Australia