Society garlic
Tulbaghia violacea Harv.
- light
- Full sun
- water
- Little
- tall
- 41 cm
- wide
- 41 cm
Amaryllidaceae
Also called Society Garlic, Violet Garlic
Formerly Omentaria violacea
When it flowers
Flowers March to November 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.
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
- Bulbous geophyteKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- SubtropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- Cape Prov. to KwaZulu-NatalKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Full sun (6 h or more)Read from RHS and NC State Extension, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: RHS full; NC State Extension full, part
- Height
- 30 cm to 51 cmRead from RHS and NC State Extension, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: RHS 0.1–0.5 m; NC State Extension 1–2 ft
- Spread
- 30 cm to 51 cmRead from RHS and NC State Extension, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: RHS 0.1–0.5 m; NC State Extension 1–2 ft
- Water
- Little: takes droughtRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Flowers
- PurpleRead from RHS and NC State Extension, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: RHS purple; NC State Extension pink, purple
- Coldest it survives
- -11.4 °C (USDA zone 8a)Read from RHS and NC State Extension, checked: the middle of what its sources sayHalfway between its 2 sources, which differ. Sources differ: RHS -5 °C; NC State Extension -17.8 °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.
Cape leadwortFlowers December to February, when this does not
Cotton RosemallowFlowers December to February, when this does not
Crape myrtleFlowers December to February, when this does not
Creeping WoodsorrelFlowers December to February, when this does not
Crimson bottlebrushFlowers December to February, when this does not
Floss flowerFlowers December to February, when this does not
In other languages (12)
- Spanish
- Cebolla africana de monte, Ajillo, Ajo de monte
- Estonian
- lilla kroonlauk
- Chinese
- 紫嬌花, 紫娇花
- root
- konofolo, moeyeyanaga, moeye-ya-naga
- Chinese (China)
- 紫娇花
- German
- Knoblauchgras, Zimmerknoblauch
- Russian
- Тульбагия фиолетовая
- Hebrew
- טולבגיה ורודה (חריפה)
- French
- Ail violet d'Afrique du Sud
- Portuguese
- alho-social
- Japanese
- ルリフタモジ
- Turkish
- Sosyete Sarımsağı
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
- RHS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-24, CC BY-SA 3.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- 3D model: Tulbaghia violacea (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.