Tulbaghia violacea.
Society garlic is in Family Amaryllidaceae > Subfamily Allioideae.
Native to Africa it is known as Society garlic or Wild garlic.
There are about 26 species.
Perennial, clumping plants to 60 cm high growing from bulbs.
The narrow grey-green leaves are slightly fleshy.
When damaged the leaves and bulbs have a garlic smell.
Inflorescence stalks or scapes are up to 0.5 m high.
A terminal umbel of up to 20 mauve or pinkish-mauve flowers is held above the leaves.
There are papery bracts outside the flowers.
Flowers have 6 tepals with the bases fused into a narrow perianth tube.
The tepal lobes, in 2 whorls of 3, flare out to be about 18 mm across.
There are projections from the bases of the outer 3 tepal lobes – a corona.
Plants flower over a long period.
Fruit are 3 chambered capsules with hard, flat black seeds.
Other species differ in having:
plants from 25 to 60 cm high with linear, strap-like green or grey-green leaves.
umbels with 10 to 40 white, cream, mauve, pink, dark purple or green flowers.
a different coloured throat.
different sizes of the corona.
There are a number of varieties such as Silver Lace with white-edged leaves.
J.F.
