Pierre-Joseph Redouté (Belgian, 1759-1840), “Leek Lily” Anthericum aloides

Pierre-Joseph Redouté  (Belgian, 1759-1840)
Watercolor for plate 283: “Leek Lily” Anthericum aloides
Prepared for Les Liliacées ca. 1802-1816
Watercolor and graphite on vellum
Completed: ca. 1802-1816
Vellum size: 18 5/8 x 13 1/8 in.
Frame size: 25 1/4 x 19 3/4 in.
Signed ‘P.J. Redouté’ lower left

Country of Origin: Mainly Summer rainfall South Africa (Eastern Cape extending to Uniondale in the Western Cape). Originally the Latin word bulbus meant bulb and tuber, ie thickened vegetative organ. Only after Linnaeus the meaning was restricted to storing leaves = bulb as a term of morphology.  In Bulbine there is no bulb but a tuber.