African lily — 1 of 4 · Photo: “BCBG Agapanthus Praecox 04” by Craig Franklin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 au Resized by Vanagrha; shared under the same licence.

African lily, photo 2 — 2 of 4 · Photo: C T Johansson, iNaturalist, CC BY-SA Resized by Vanagrha; shared under the same licence.

African lily

Agapanthus praecox Willd.

light: Full sun
water: Medium
tall: 46 cm
wide: 46 cm

Amaryllidaceae

Also called Blue lily, Lily of the Nile, Common agapanthus, Bluelily, African Lily

Formerly Agapanthus comptonii, Agapanthus giganteus, Agapanthus longispathus, Agapanthus multiflorus, and 2 more

When it flowers

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Flowers January to July in the tropics.

Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.

PetsNo pet-safety information yet

PeopleNC State Extension lists it as mildly poisonous (leaves) (25 Oct 2026)

If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.

Something wrong with it?

About it

Grows as: GeophyteKew's checklist, not yet checked
Climate: SubtropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
Wild in: S. Cape Prov. to SW. KwaZulu-NatalKew's checklist, not yet checked
Light: Full sun (6 h or more)Read from NC State Extension and Wikipedia, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension full; Wikipedia full, part
Height: 30 cm to 61 cmRead from NC State Extension, one source
Spread: 30 cm to 61 cmRead from NC State Extension, one source
Water: Average: moist, well drainedRead from NC State Extension and Wikipedia, not yet checked: its sources are splitTied: no reading has a majority of the 2 sources, so all are kept for a person to settle. Sources differ: NC State Extension medium; Wikipedia low
Flowers: White, blueRead from NC State Extension and Wikipedia, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension blue, white; Wikipedia blue, purple, white
Coldest it survives: -13.6 °C (USDA zone 7b)Read from NC State Extension and Wikipedia, checked: the middle of what its sources sayHalfway between its 2 sources, which differ. Sources differ: NC State Extension -12.2 °C; Wikipedia -15 °C

Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.

Grow it with

Suggested by a rule, not by a gardener: same climate (kew), flowering when this plant does not (inaturalist), and a different shape.

In other languages (12)

Spanish: Agapando del Cabo, agapanto
Afrikaans: bloulelie, agapant, Gewone Bloulelie
root: ubani, isicakathi, umpofu
Czech: kalokvět kapský
French: Agapanthe précoce
Chinese (China): 早花百子莲
Chinese: 早花百子蓮, 早花百子莲
Catalan: Clívia blava
Danish: Skærmlilje
Russian: Агапантус ранний
Lithuanian: Ankstyvasis agapantas
German: Blaue Schmucklilie

Where this comes from

iNaturalist, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
Wikidata, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0
Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
Wikipedia, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-24, CC BY-SA 3.0 au
iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA
iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
3D model: Agapanthus praecox (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own

A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.