Massonia pustulata SEEDS - Pustulate massonia | Hedgehog lily

Massonia pustulata seeds grow into a bulbous geophyte endemic to the subtropical biome of the south-western Cape Province of South Africa. Described by Jacquin (Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, 1727–1817, great Viennese court botanist) in 1791. The epithet pustulata means 'pustulate' or 'blistered', referring to the wart-like pustules or bumps on the leaf surface. The taxonomy of this species was historically confuséd with both M. depressa (which had absorbed the name in some treatments) and M. longipes. A key taxonomic paper by Wetschnig et al. (2012) — titled 'how M. pustulata became depressed' (Stapfia 97: 210–221) — resolved these confusions and re-established the original name. Like all Massonia, produces only two broad flat leaves spread on the ground, with the compact inflorescence close to the ground between them. Family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae.

Full sun; well-drained sandy or rocky soils; dry summer dormancy; cool wet winters — Mediterranean Cape climate.

• 'Pustulata' = pustulate/blistered; wart-like bumps on leaf surface — diagnostic character
• Jacquin (1727–1817, Viennese court botanist), 1791; Wetschnig et al. (2012, Stapfia 97) resolved taxonomy
• SW. Cape Prov. — subtropical biome; South African endemic
• Named after Francis Masson (Kew, 1741–1805); among first documented rodent-pollinated plants
• Full sun; well-drained soils; dry summer; Mediterranean Cape; Family Asparagaceae

Massonia pustulata is the pustulate Cape bulb — described by the great Viennese botanist Jacquin in 1791, its blistered leaf surface making it immediately distinctive and its complex taxonomic history with M. depressa and M. longipes a case study in the difficulties of identifying this botanically extraordinary genus from the Cape fynbos.

IMPORTANT: Pictures show the adult plant, which is not for sale. The offer is only for seeds.