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Scientific Name
Synonyms
Family
Common Names
Origin
Cultivation
Naturalised Distribution
Habitat
Habit
Distinguishing Features
Stems and Leaves
Flowers and Fruit
Reproduction and Dispersal
Environmental Impact
Other Impacts
Legislation
Management
Similar Species
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Click on images to enlarge

infestation (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

habit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

habit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

strap-like leaves (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

branched flower cluster (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

flowers (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

close-up of flower (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

immature fruit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

close-up of mature fruit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

yellow-flowered garden cultivar (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

'bulbs' (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora

Scientific Name

Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora (Lem.) N.E. Brown

Synonyms

Crocosmia aurea (Pappe ex Hook.) Planch. (misapplied)
Crocosmia aurea (Pappe ex Hook.) Planch. x Crocosmia pottsii (McNab ex Baker) N.E. Brown
Crocosmia crocosmiiflora (Lem.) N.E. Brown
Montbretia x crocosmaeflora Lem.
Montbretia x crocosmiaeflora Morren
Montbretia x crocosmiiflora Lem.
Tritonia crocosmaeflora Lem.
Tritonia crocosmiiflora Nichols.
Tritonia x crocosmiflora (Lem.) Nichols
Tritonia x crocosmiiflora Nichols.

Family

Iridaceae

Common Names

common montbretia, crocosmia, garden montbretia, montbretia

Origin

This plant is a hybrid of horticultural origin and is derived from Crocosmia aurea and Crocosmia pottsii. Both of these species originated in southern Africa, and the horticultural hybrid was developed in France.

Cultivation

Many cultivars of this hybrid are still common in cultivation in southern and eastern Australia.

Naturalised Distribution

This species has a relatively widespread, but scattered, distribution in the coastal regions of south-eastern Australia. It is most common near heavily populated areas in eastern New South Wales, southern Victoria, south-eastern South Australia, south-western Western Australia, Tasmania and south-eastern Queensland. It is also naturalised in other parts of these states and on Lord Howe Island.

Habitat

A weed of temperate and sub-tropical environments. It inhabits wetter grasslands, open woodlands, pastures, waterways, gardens, roadsides, waste areas, disturbed sites and railway enclosures.

Habit

An upright (i.e. erect), long-lived (i.e. perennial), herbaceous plant usually growing to about 60 cm tall, but sometimes reaching up to 100 cm in height. The aboveground foliage is short-lived, and grows back each year from underground 'bulbs' (i.e. corms) and creeping stems (i.e. rhizomes).

Distinguishing Features

Stems and Leaves

The green stems are rounded, upright (i.e. erect) or loosely arching, and usually have a few branches near their tips (on which the flowers are borne).

The leaves (30-80 cm long and 1-2 cm wide) are mostly clustered near the base of the plant. There are usually only about 6-12 leaves produced by each individual 'bulb' (i.e. corm) and they sheath the stem at their bases. These leaves are strap-like (i.e. lanceolate or ensiform), soft, and sometime droop towards the ground. They are hairless (i.e. glabrous) with entire margins and pointed tips (i.e. acute apices).

Flowers and Fruit

The tubular flowers (3-4 cm long and 2-5 cm wide) are borne in two rows along the zig-zagging branches at the top of the stems. Each branch is 15-30 cm long and has 4-20 flowers. The flowers are yellow to orange-red (usually orange-red with yellow centres) in colour with six 'petals' (i.e. perianth segments or tepals) that are fused together at the base into a tube (i.e. perianth tube) 12-18 mm long. They also have three stamens and a style that splits into three short branches (about 4 mm long) near its tip, each topped with a stigma. Flowering occurs mostly during summer and autumn, but also during spring in warmer climates.

The fruit are three-lobed capsules (5-10 mm long) that turn from green to brown, and become shrivelled, as they mature. Seeds are usually not produced, but when present they are brown or reddish-brown in colour and flattened or triangular in shape (about 3 mm long and 1-2 mm wide).

Reproduction and Dispersal

New plants develop from the tips of the creeping underground stems (i.e. rhizomes), which are produced by the 'bulbs' (i.e. corms) and grow up to 30 cm long. The 'bulbs' (10-35 mm across) are rounded or flattened (i.e. globose or compressed) and covered in several brown fibrous layers.

Infestations spread laterally via the growth of underground rhizomes while long-range dispersal of the corms and seeds occurs via water, machinery, contaminated soil or dumped garden waste.

Environmental Impact

Montbretia (Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora ) is regarded as a significant environmental weed in Victoria and New South Wales, and a moderately important environmental weed in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania. In 2006, this species was listed as a priority environmental weed in two Natural Resource Management regions.

It is invasive in moist forests, roadside remnants, drainage lines and along waterways in the coastal districts of southern Australia. It competes strongly with, and displaces, native riparian plants and moves rapidly along watercourses and outwards into sensitive bushland. Dense infestations crowd out the native ground flora and impede the regeneration of overstorey species, and can also significantly modify the habitat available to native animals.

Other Impacts

The dense layer of 'bulbs' (i.e. corms) in the upper soil layer can contribute to the erosion of creek banks and the siltation of waterways.

Legislation

This species is declared under legislation in the following states and territories:

Management

For information on the management of this species see the following resources:

Similar Species

Montbretia (Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora) is similar to African cornflag (Chasmanthe floribunda) and bulbil watsonia (Watsonia meriana var. bulbillifera). These species can be distinguished by the following differences: