Leopard leaf or silver squill.

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Leopard Leaf Squill
sometimes it just doesn't pay to take a cutting from a plant you don't know. As a youngster you're warned not to talk to strangers. Well, maybe you shouldn't take a cutting until you know what it is you plan on propagating.

I noticed a large container of a leafy, low growing plant in front of a home where I'd finished playing an evening of bridge. I asked the owner what the plant was but she didn't know so I asked if I might take a snippet to see if I could get it to grow. The bulb like clusters that came from the base of the plant were easy to separate and I took a couple for later rooting.

Squill bulb with new growth already starting on the side.
Two pots of divided bulbs share table space with a small pot of cacti on a north facing porch. (Note blue pot of squill in the background on the right.)

I planted my new acquisitions in small clay pots with normal potting soil and set them in the greenhouse where they would get shade and regular water. Then I set out to discover the plant's identity.

I looked at a couple of houseplant books thinking the colorful, fleshy foliage and low growing habit might make it of houseplant value. No luck searching there. I then browsed a couple of plant encyclopedias hoping to spot a picture of the plant. Again, I came up blank so the specimen remained nameless until I happened to spot a small plant in a photograph on a website. It was used as a companion plant for a bonsai and fortunately it was identified as a squill.

After a little research on the internet and a bit of reading through plant reference books I learned my previously unknown plant was native to South Africa and related to the Scilla family. The Leopard leaf or Silver squill falls under the Ledebouria genus. The fleshy leaf with leopard like markings is the socialis species and produces a less than showy spike of of flowers in spring and summer.

South African squill can take over a container as it quickly multiplies.
Spotted, fleshy leaf of the squill.
The spiked blooms of the squill offer little in the way of color or scent.

The plant was a fast grower in the greenhouse and didn't seem to attract any insects. The small divisions quickly rooted then took over their pots and I eventually divided the clumps and planted them in a couple of 12-inch plastic hanging baskets with metal wire hangers. The plants become quite heavy after watering and as they grow in mass so wire hangers rather than plastic are advised. The plants grew well on a north facing porch, hanging from a mesquite in the shade and in all types of containers.

With the fleshy leaves and moisture filled bulbs the small plants should be susceptible to freezing temperatures. I've never left them out in the cold moving mine to the greenhouse when freezing temperatures are predicted. (2008)