| Description | Peacock Lily (Acidanthera bicolor var. murielae) is a tender bulb (corm) with star-shaped white flowers having a purple center. |
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| Pronunciation | (ass-ih-DAN-ther-ah)(BY-kol-or)(mur-ee-EL-ay) |
| Plant Type | Bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizoms, etc., Perennial Tender |
| Hardiness Zone | 8-10 |
| Sunlight | full |
| Moisture | average, moist |
| Soil & Site | average, moist, well-drained |
| Temperature | hardy to 25 degrees F |
| Flowers | The flowers are star-shaped, lightly fragrant, and white with a purple throat. Flowers are made up of 6 sepals. |
| Leaves | Pointed sword-like ribbed green leaves can reach 2-4 feet. |
| Stems | Grows from an underground structure called a corm. The plant is a geophyte. |
| Roots | Plant the corms 2-6” deep, with larger corms planted deeper. Space the corms 4-6” apart, preferably in groups of at least five |
| Dimensions | 24-36 inches tall |
| Maintenance | Plant corms 2-6 inches deep, 8 inches apart in groups. Harvest corms in the fall, dry, clean carefully, and store at 55-68 °F (13-20°C) with some ventilation |
| Propagation | Division of corms, |
| Native Site | The mountains of tropical East Africa, Ethiopia, and central Mozambique. Found growing in thin soil on cliffs and rock outcrops. |
| Cultivar Origin | The species was first collected in Ethiopia in 1844 by botanist Christian Ferdinand Friedrich Hochstetter and is considered an heirloom plant, as it first bloomed in about 1880 in Boston (USA). |
| Misc Facts | syn. Gladiolus callianthus, aka: Abyssinian, Abyssinian Gladiolus, Fragrant gladiolus, Sword lily |
| Notes & Reference | #04-Herbaceous Perennial Plants (Allan Armitage), #284-University of Wisconsin-Madison (hort.extension.wisc.edu), North Carolina State University fact sheet (web) |
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