Talk:Clivia miniata

How to propogate the Clivia
Hi, I see the article contains plenty of useful information for those wanting to propogate the Clivia. Is this the accepted structure for an article on flora in Wikipedia? Gregorydavid 15:38, 1 May 2006 (UTC)


 * This article reads like an information sheet you might get when you buy a bag of seeds or a potted plant at the nursery. I wonder if someone did simply copy one of those sheets.  140.147.236.194 (talk) 13:39, 30 November 2009 (UTC)Stephen Kosciesza

Use of "Kaffir"
From the article: at present use of the term "Kaffir", to denote people of Bantu origin, is politically incorrect
 * I find it odd that the use of "Kaffir" for people is being discussed in an article about the flower. Perhaps it is just that I don't understand the political situation associated with this statement (I got here because of the Featured Picture) but it seems to me like saying you can't call an Oriental rug "oriental" because that term can be used in a derogatory manner in another situation.  Perhaps someone more familiar with the topic could make this introductory sentence a little clearer for us non experts, right now it doesn't seem to fit with the topic at hand at all. Stardust8212 20:38, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

The word 'Kaffir' is highly offensive and is no longer used publicly to describe any species of plant. Alternative names have been taken up as standard. eg. Kaffir Boom is no longer used, instead Coral Tree is used. Clivia miniata plants are commonly called Clivias. Bush Lily may be used to specifically describe the original wild version.Michaelwild (talk) 20:21, 20 February 2010 (UTC)


 * If a particular common name is no longer in use (and I haven't heard that one since the seventies), should the article say that the plant is "commonly known as" that name? Wouldn't "formerly commonly known as" or words to that effect be preferable? 68.84.6.2 (talk) 02:39, 3 May 2010 (UTC)


 * The suggestion that "The word 'Kaffir' is highly offensive and is no longer used publicly to describe any species of plant" is pure POV and belied by the fact that a Google search for "kaffir lily" yields 111,000 results. The top three are from the UK Daily Telegraph, Wikipedia, and the Royal Horticultural Society.


 * The search '"kaffir lily" offensive' yields just 1,520 results. Most of the first page of results consists of links to forum posts in which angsty-sounding people fret over whether if it's OK to mention the word "kaffir" in a plant name. Presumably whoever made the assertion that "kaffir xxxx" is an offensive plant name can post a link either to the formal deliberations of whatever authoritative panel unanimously ruled this to be so, or to some organisation representative of the Bantu people that has stated "kaffir lily" to be offensive. If not, then I'm going to assume this is simply someone taking offence on behalf of someone else who hasn't themselves so far as we know taken offence, and I will duly change the article to reflect what the plant is actually called.


 * If nothing else, this will save later editors a job when "bush lily" is judged to be an offensive term as well, on the grounds that "bush" offends both Kalahari "bush" men as well as the owners of female pudenda. Tirailleur (talk) 12:12, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

That commentary is bizarrely dismissive, although it was a decade ago. It doesn't take much online searching to find reliable sources confirming that the term is extremely offensive in the plant's native range, even if this is less well known worldwide. Zaian (talk) 10:54, 26 September 2022 (UTC)

Citation 5
Link does not go to info about the use of the term kaffir or info on clivia miniata but instead a pot grow lights company website. 2600:1700:42C0:EBA0:3553:8971:175B:D98A (talk) 16:26, 9 July 2022 (UTC)
 * I added a link to an archived version; the original website seems to have been taken over. Peter coxhead (talk) 20:16, 9 July 2022 (UTC)