Dunedin man David Fynmore thinks his aspidistra (Aspidistra elatior) must be 150 years old, having originally been grown by his great-grandparents.
Now to his great delight, the plant has finally flowered.
"When my great-aunt died in 1976, we took the plant and it just sat in our hall in a macrame basket my brother made," David said.
When the macrame basket began to disintegrate, he moved the aspidistra into the lounge, where it got more indirect northwest light and greater warmth.
That may have triggered flowering.
"One day, I noticed that the soil was rising in one area and I thought ‘That’s odd’, then saw there was a flower coming through."
A second followed, blooming for three or four weeks, peaking for one, neither rising much above the soil.
"They didn’t make any statement, [with] no perfume at all.
"I think my ancestors would be pleased," he said.
Research showed him that an aspidistra flowers "very, very rarely" and is pollinated by ground-hugging bugs, including slugs.
David has a theory that the plants may "regularly flower underground and that it is a freak of nature that they sometimes erupt above the ground".
He is hoping his plant will flower again next year. Meanwhile, he is fertilising it sparingly and watering it only when the potting mix is completely dry.
