Tiger Flower

Tigridia parvonia

This bulbous herbaceous perennial is a true Edimental (edible ornamental): its common names, including jockey’s cap, Mexican shellflower, peacock flower, and tiger flower, all attest to its beauty, but this Iris family plant is also edible and medicinal!

Native to forest margins and grasslands of Mexico and Central America, and known in Aztec as ‘Cacomitl’, it is remarkably hardy, and being Winter-dormant it seems to survive winters in most of New Zealand.

In Spring the plants form fans of narrow, lance-shaped leaves. In mid Summer flower stems rise up 30-60cm, topped with large (15cm across) striking three-petalled blooms, which can occur in a variety of bright colours, often with strongly contrasting central markings. (And this is what they are known for, however our parent stock at the moment is creamy white with no markings, still very pretty (and actually i prefer them) but less dramatic. However, as the plants we are offering are seed grown they may exhibit variation.) Like daylilies, each flower lasts only one day, but flowers appear on the plant in succession over several weeks, and are very attractive to bees and butterflies.

Tiger Flowers enjoy a sheltered position in full sun, in free-draining soil. In the hottest areas dappled shade is fine. They require consistently moist soils until established but can then tolerate short periods of drought.

Space plants approx. 20cm apart. In the coldest and/or wettest parts of the country, you can dig up the corms after the foliage turns yellow in late Autumn, allow the bulbs to dry and then store them in a cool place (5-10 degrees C), then replant in Spring. This will avoid them rotting in cold wet soil.

And it’s the corms which are the edible part, so if you want those, you will have to dig them up anyway! They should produce offsets which can be removed first for replanting, leaving a small but apparently delicious corm. Roasted they are said to have a flavour of sweet potato or chestnut, and were (are?) widely used by the Indigenous peoples of Mexico as well as others across the Central and South American region.

In traditional Mexican medicine, the Tiger Plant has been used for centuries to promote fertility and to treat various ailments. The plant contains several active compounds that possess medicinal properties, including alkaloids, flavonoids, and saponins. These compounds are believed to have anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, analgesic, neuro-protective and diuretic effects, amongst others. Most commonly it is used for relieving pain and inflammation and to aid wound healing and tissue regeneration. The corms can be prepared in a number of ways including as infusions, tinctures, and topical pastes and salves.

Certified organic one year old plant in 9cm pot. Plants will flower from second year.

Freight: We can send up to 9 plants this size (in 9cm pots) for the same freight price or they can be combined with other grades but this will incur higher freight costs.

More details of freight and packing charges here