Monocarpic bulbs/plants

In the strictest sense - yes!
However, with the shed mentality of the huge growers (especially the Dutch growers, but not exclusively) it is all too easy to buy a plant just about in bloom where the offsets have been removed and potted up back at the "factory" - thus this will now be to all intents and purposes a monocarpic plant.
Example - last year I decided to buy a Beschornia yuccoides, located one and arranged to collect it from a local rare plant fair. My fears were grounded, as the plant had clearly had the offsets removed (the scars were rather fresh) and was adorned with a metre and a half tall flower spike! I bought mine from Hill House Nursery in the end, whose staff member dug me out one with five offsets.

One of the most frustrating things is to buy something rather special and effectively get "stiffed" by the vendor, so I guess that all I'm trying to do is create an awareness of such plants and pitfalls.

 

Never been into buying such plants, so didn't realise this kind of thing was going on.

 

I learnt the hard way through poor Paphiopedilum purchases! Sought out a sequential bloomer as opposed to a single bloom variety, not realising that the fan dies in Paphs, and that the sequential bloomers fan dies off quicker!

I've learnt why I struggle with Mecanopsis now thanks to loveweeds! Good table here (http://www.meconopsis.org/spages/speciestable.html) for reference.

 

"Mecanopsis"

Needs acid soil doesn't it? Count me out :( :( :(

 

Lordy - I keep doing that!
Tried acid soil too - another chalk mark on the long list of failures!
My one and only bloom - EVER!!

 

Very droll Longk!!

So you grew Mecanopsis and you have alkaline soil? Afraid I've never even attempted it

 

That was in 50/50 soil and erricacious mix - lasted long enough to get one bloom! To be fair, I nearly got two before the second, third and the rest of the buds just seemed to dry up.
I will try again in the new garden, and then give 'em up as a bad job probably!!!

 

Hopefully I will live long enough to no longer be trying to grow so much each season that has half a chance of making it that I will actually have time to try Mecanopsis which has absolutely no chance of making it!

 

Mecanopsis from seed to bloom is very much on my "bucket list"!

 

I grew Mecanopsis for a couple of years, but one year I went shopping and missed its entire flowering season.

As Pete said Echiums are monorcarpic - except E. candicans. However I think that monocarpic plants can occasionally produce an offshoot. I have had this once with E. russicum. But if they regularly produce offshoots - they can't really be called monocarpic?

I understand Salvia argentea is monocarpic. Mine hasn't flowered yet after two years.

I was shown round a banana plantation once in Jamaica. The bananas they grew there (for consumption) died after flowering, but an offshoot would grow and the old plant was left to shrivel as the new plant drew its nutrition from the old. That way the offshoot became a full sized, fruit bearing, plant a year later. If the old plant was cut down and taken away, I was told it would take 7 years for the offshoot to become full sized and bear fruit.

 

"Its the way you tell 'em" Priceless!

 

Classic!

The banana was a revelation to me - when I checked it out they were indeed said to be monocarpic. However, I did also find another word (p......carpic) which applied to the plants that behaved in this way. I've checked all that have gone onto post #2 though and they are all described as monocarpic.

 

I believe you can cut-down a Banana that is attempting to flower, thereby forcing it to "pup" and getting a number of offsets. Interesting about allowing its successor to feast off the parent though.

 

Many Orchids do the same thing. Cymbidium, Dendrobium (most species) and Pleione are other good examples.

 

Few years back I was getting Basjoo flowering quite regularly.
Now I'm not saying basjoo grows exactly in the same way as maybe bananas grown commercially in tropical countries but by the time the plants reached flowering size there was already a fair few pups growing around, infact quite a clump after just three years would develop.