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Clivia caulescens; photograph (c) katuchka, some rights reserved (CC BY) CC BY(c) katuchka, some rights reserved (CC BY) · observed growing wild · 2024-07-28

Clivia caulescens R.A.Dyer

Longstem Bushlily; Stalk Clivia; Stem Clivia; Transvaal clivia

Amaryllidaceae · Swaziland, Northern Provinces

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Clivia caulescens, photograph (c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY)Clivia caulescens, photograph (c) katuchka, some rights reserved (CC BY)Clivia caulescens, photograph (c) katuchka, some rights reserved (CC BY)Clivia caulescens, photograph (c) James Deacon, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)Clivia caulescens, photograph (c) Elena_Sherehora, some rights reserved (CC BY)Clivia caulescens, photograph (c) Elena_Sherehora, some rights reserved (CC BY) 28 photographs ›
Habitat figuresfrom few records
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
1.3°C
Record low -2.9 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
23°C
Jan, Feb and Dec at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
1,232mm
9 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
23–38DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet summers: the rain comes May to September (November to March at the habitat), read as a summer growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

From few records: 5 records in 4 grid cells. The records.

Summary

Clivia caulescens is a plant and geophyte belonging to the genus Clivia. The species occurs in Eswatini, Mpumalanga and Limpopo. The plant is threatened by its excessive use by traditional healers as well as its collection by horticulturalists. It is expected that the plant's numbers will decrease by 25% over the next 60 years.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Clivia caulescens", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Clivia

Clivia is a genus of monocot flowering plants native to southern Africa. They are from the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. Common names are Natal lily or bush lily.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Clivia", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (932 mm of 1,218 mm) falls in November to March, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 18.2 °C against a yearly mean of 15.3 °C). Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: May to September.

Rain

1,218 mm in the median year at the habitat, 932 mm of it November to March. Wettest month February at 214 mm, driest month July at 15 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 1,117 mm to 1,240 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 1,232 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 1,218 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, southern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 23 to 38 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 22, the highest 90th-percentile month 38).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 1.3 °C, the absolute minimum -2.9 °C, 46 frost nights in 44 years, 1.0 a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 33.0 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 4.8 °C in July (across the grid cells of the range 4.2 °C to 6.8 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 23.3 °C in January (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 1.3 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 54 to 67% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected +144 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

From few records: this habitat climate is read from 5 records in 4 grid cells; a page says so under 12 records or 5 cells, and shows the figures as read.

Habitat months, southern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Clivia caulescens through the yearWarmest months January, February and December, mean daily high 23 °C; coldest month July, mean nightly low 4.8 °C; 1,218 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, southern hemisphere.-10°0°10°20°30°40°frost33.0° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER-2.9° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200250mm rainDLI 23–38RH 54–67%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 4 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C23 / 23–2523 / 23–2522 / 22–2421 / 20–2319 / 18–2117 / 16–1917 / 16–1919 / 18–2121 / 21–2321 / 21–2322 / 22–2423 / 23–25
Night °C14 / 14–1714 / 14–1713 / 13–1511 / 10–138 / 7–105 / 5–75 / 4–76 / 6–89 / 8–1111 / 10–1312 / 12–1414 / 13–16
Rain mm211 / 190–211214 / 183–224152 / 130–16072 / 61–7726 / 24–2819 / 16–2115 / 12–1620 / 19–2436 / 34–4398 / 92–113158 / 151–166197 / 176–201
DLI38 / 37–3836 / 36–3632 / 32–3329 / 28–2926 / 25–2623 / 22–2424 / 23–2528 / 27–2933 / 32–3434 / 33–3536 / 35–3638 / 37–38
RH %67 / 66–6767 / 66–6866 / 65–6663 / 62–6357 / 56–5854 / 54–5554 / 54–5555 / 55–5657 / 56–5762 / 61–6364 / 63–6565 / 64–66
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 4 grid cells holding the 5 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 2298:4216 (-24.925, 30.825). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -2.9 °C, 1st-percentile night 1.3 °C, 99th-percentile day 33.0 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 4 distinct grid cells holding 5 of the 5 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2298:4216 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -25.00_30.625, lapse-corrected +144 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 1457 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeSwaziland, Northern Provinces · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker-24.835, 30.867 · in the densest population, 194 records (97% of those in range)
Kew's description“subshrub” · “subtropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 201 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 5 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 52 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 3 km away. 1 record outside the WCVP native range not used. Under a dozen records behind the climate. 196 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 201 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Clivia caulescens, photograph 1did not loadClivia caulescens, photograph 2did not loadClivia caulescens, photograph 3did not loadClivia caulescens, photograph 4did not loadClivia caulescens, photograph 5did not loadClivia caulescens, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) katuchka, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) James Deacon, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA); (c) Elena_Sherehora, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Kleinia galpinii Kleinia galpinii Asteraceae Photo: CC BY, katuchkaLedebouria remifolia Ledebouria remifolia Butterspoon African hyacinth Photo: CC BY-SA, Andrew HankeyLedebouria monophylla Ledebouria monophylla Button-leaf African hyacinth Photo: CC0, author not stated Ceropegia bruceae Apocynaceae Sparrmannia ricinocarpa Sparrmannia ricinocarpa Climbing African Hemp Photo: CC BY, Sunčana BradleyCeropegia coddii Ceropegia coddii Apocynaceae Photo: CC0, rosshawkins

Other Clivia 5 in the reference

Clivia gardenii Clivia gardenii Forest Bushlily Photo: CC BY-SA, Janet GatesClivia miniata Clivia miniata Amaryllidaceae Photo: CC0, author not statedClivia mirabilis Clivia mirabilis Oorlogskloof Bushlily Photo: CC BY-SA, Tony RebeloClivia nobilis Clivia nobilis Bush Lily Photo: CC0, author not statedClivia robusta Clivia robusta Pondo Bushlily Photo: CC BY, Adele SL

Names & registers

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Amaryllidaceae
Described by
R.A.Dyer
Native to
Swaziland, Northern Provinces
Wild records
201 in range · 52 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-21
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-21
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-21
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-21names fetched 2026-10-21
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-21
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-21NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -25.00_30.625, lapse-corrected +144 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-21
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-21
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-21none of the photographs on this page is credited to GBIF: those shown are other sources', and GBIF's were the same photographs or were set aside by the photograph rules
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 6 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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