Florist grows rare flower in Coimbatore

Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), June 15 (ANI): A florist hailing from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu has been successful in growing a rare flower called the Fireball Lily at his residence.

Vellingiri told reporters here that the rare flower looked like a small pumpkin and only blossomed during the month of June.

"I am happy to grow this rare flower. I got the flower's bulbs from a friend. The plant grew for few days, but later it stopped growing and dried up. For a period of a year, I tried everything possible so that the plant would grow and my efforts did not go waste, as it started blooming in the month of June. The flowers appear like a small pumpkin, which is red in colour and rarely seen," said Vellingiri.

The Fireball Lily (Scadoxus Multiflorus) flower, which is also known as Blood Lily, is a native to forests in South Africa.

It thrives in tropical and sub-tropical climates and blooms during the summer.

The flowers appear like a red ball with multiple tiny fiery red blooms having a width size of eight to nine inches.

Although the pumpkin-shaped flower attracted people with its beauty, African tribes use its extract to poison and kill animals.

Tribals usually crush petals of the flower and apply the extracted liquid to the tip of their arrows before going on a hunting expedition. (ANI)