plant bulb ID help please

[amalan11]

Hi

I have a heap of these that I found growing on an old abandoned factory site. They are quite  large and when I first saw them I  mistook them for a really nice lush group of Agapanthus plants as even though it was early july inner Sydney they were very green and healthy.

They were in several clumps about a metre each .Once I managed to dig out one bulb, the sandy soil was dry and rock hard, I found I could  rip the bulbs apart from clump by hand one at a time .

The thing is for all my effort I am not sure what they are?...

not Agapanthus as they do not have big bulbs

not belladonna as the leaves are  blunter at the end and thinner

so im thinking Hippeastrum perhaps although bulbs look more onion shaped on internet and I have never seen such lush foliage in winter on Hippeastrum  

Or could they be hymnicalis spider lily ? They are supposed to be evergreen 

I dont think they are crinum as all my crinum have wider leaves...

Any sugestions of anything else they may be ?..

also no sign of buds yet ,one of my hippeastrum has bud so its bud time in sydney 

I hate the mystery of it all...im not a patient woman 

[lyndal1838]

If they are green and healthy after being neglected then they are probably weeds.

Seriously, how long are the leaves and what shape?  Do you have a photo of them on the original site?

Were they originally planted in a garden setting and have just gone wild or were they just dumped on the site?

[go-tazz]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

If they are green and healthy after being neglected then they are probably weeds.

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They look like onion weed,(something you definitely don't want to plant).

The little "bulbs" at the end of the roots is their seeds,(when you pull them up they generally stay behind and

form new growth).

Their seed can also grow close to the bulbs.

A very difficult weed to get rid off.

[davidc4430]

bung em into a pot, or several, see what you get.

if they wind up being weeds then nothing lost hey.

[chameleon54]

Cape Tulip ? This stays green all year round. Grows to 60 cm. tall, though usually more like 45 cm. Single leaf and two leaf forms. Grows in groups or clumps. Bulbs to 5 cm. Bulbs covered in a black husk. White or light pink flowers......... Not as nice as it sounds though, highly toxic to animals, especialy when flowering and major weed species. .  Google is your friend.

[tasfleur]

Could it be a rare interplanetary triffid ?

[bushies.girl]

Simple answer   .. plant it and wait for it to flower

[enigmabear]

Potatoes from Mars  

[amalan11]

No bulbs are way bigger from tennis ball size to baseball size.

[amalan11]

I will try and get a photo of the clumps in a couple of days. They are in an old garden area with lots of succulents and gazanias so they are something deliberately planted . Im positive they are going to be something nice but im wondering what . I guess I will have to just wait and see what bloom they get ...if they are hippeastrum or spider lily  both flower in next couple of months .

the bigger bulbs are about 18 cm across and the long leaves were about a metre high . Most of the bulbs are about tennis ball size or larger.

I have about 150 of them so whatever they are iv got a good chance of a bloom id say...even if they are trifids .