Gloriosa Superb The Glory Lily

The Gloriosa superba, also known as the Glory Lily is a scrambling tuberous perennial climber that can grow up to four metres tall (weeds.brisbane.qld.gov.au). It’s Shiny bright green leaves are arranged alternatively along the stem (weeds.brisbane.qld.gov.au) and long tendrils curl at the tip of the herbaceous weed (weeds.dpi.nsw.gov.au). Bright red and orange flowers make it a very distinctive plant and is rarely confused with other species (Keysaver.lucidental.org). The flowers are always made up six pedals which have wavy edges and are strongly turned backwards to support the stems (weeds.brisbane.qld.gov.au). The Glory Lily forms dense carpets on dunes along the coast (weeds.dpi.nsw.gov.au) and it develops a network of tuberous roots …show more content…
It prefers warmer climates and therefore blooms better during late spring and right through summer. The flowering usually starts early in the summer months and continues till late march/ early may. Seeds are often an orange or red colour and they will turn brown when the flowering time is over. Once dried they looks like little brown balls and one by one they drop off of the plant onto the ground. The seeds are then dispersed by animals, water and wind and will re-grow elsewhere when winter is past. Seed, stems and tubers are also often spread by gardeners dumping garden wastes in bush land where the weed can reproduce vegetatively. Vegetative is a form of asexual reproduction in plants. It is a process by which new organisms arise without production of seeds or spores …show more content…
There are many factors that are encouraging the continues growth and spread of the glory lily and therefore it is very hard to control or even eliminate this weed. The main factors are often birds and other animals who will pick up seeds and take them to different locations where the glory lily will easily start growing out of seeds or tubers, and inhabiting a new area. Another factor is people. Often the weed it is liked to be kept as a garden plant because of its beauty but many are not aware or educated enough to understand what a major problem it has been causing and the poisonous affects it can have when ingested. The last big main factor is cuttings and other garden waste that is dropped into bush land by gardeners, unaware of the consequences. It had persistent tubers that re-shoot even when foliage has been removed. By dumping wastes and introductions into dunes it has been affecting rainforest communities (Bongil Bongil national park) and many coastal areas long QLD and