Editing Agapanthus africanus (section)

==Cultivation and use==
Unlike the more common ''[[Agapanthus praecox]]'', this species is less suitable as a garden plant as it is far more difficult to grow.  ''A.&nbsp;africanus'' subsp. ''africanus'' may be grown in rockeries in a well drained, slightly acid sandy mix. They seem to be best when grown in shallow pots and will flower regularly if fed with a slow release fertiliser.<ref name=":1" /> ''A.&nbsp;africanus'' subsp. ''walshii'' is by far the most difficult ''Agapanthus'' to grow.  It can only be grown as a container plant and will not survive if planted out. They require a very well-drained, sandy, acid mix with minimal watering in summer.<ref name=":1" /> Both subspecies require hot, dry summers, and winter rainfall climate. It will not tolerate extended freezing temperatures.<ref name="plantzafrica">{{cite web| url = http://pza.sanbi.org/agapanthus-praecox| title = PlantZAfrica: ''Agapanthus praecox''}}</ref> 

The name ''A.&nbsp;africanus'' has long been misapplied to ''A.&nbsp;praecox'' in horticultural use and publications across the world, and horticultural plants sold as ''A.&nbsp;africanus'' are actually hybrids or cultivars of ''A.&nbsp;praecox''.<ref name=":1" />

Extracts of ''A. africanus'' have been shown to have antifungal properties. Application of these extracts to the seeds of other plant species, including economically important species, has shown that it significantly reduces the severity of the impacts of certain pathogens. In the case of sorghum, this application was even found to perform better than [[Thiram]], a commonly used [[fungicide]] when exposed to ''[[Sporisorium sorghi]]'' and ''[[Sporisorium cruentum|S. cruentum]]''.<ref name="Agapanthus-africanus-extracts">
   {{Unbulleted list citebundle
      |{{cite book | pages=x+136 | volume=6 | year=2014| publication-place=[[Dordrecht]] | last1=Gullino | first1=Maria Lodovica | last2=Munkvold | first2=Gary P. | title=Global Perspectives on the Health of Seeds and Plant Propagation Material | publisher=[[International Congress of Plant Pathology]] ([[Springer Netherlands]])  | isbn=978-94-017-9388-9 | id={{isbn|978-94-017-9389-6}} | doi=10.1007/978-94-017-9389-6 | series=Plant Pathology in the 21st Century | s2cid=28648931}}
      |{{cite journal | issue=7 | year=2008 | volume=27 | last2=Pretorius | title=Antifungal properties of ''Agapanthus africanus'' L. extracts against plant pathogens | last1=Tegegne | first1=G. | first2=J.C. | last3=Swart | first3=W.J. | journal=[[Crop Protection (journal)|Crop Protection]] | issn=0261-2194 | publisher=[[International Association for the Plant Protection Sciences]] ([[Elsevier]]) | doi=10.1016/j.cropro.2007.12.007 | pages=1052–1060 | s2cid=44930816}}
   }}
</ref>  Similarly, it has found to induce resistance to rust leaf in wheat through increasing the activity of pathogenesis related proteins.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Singh|first=R. P.|date=1992|title=Expression of Wheat Leaf Rust Resistance Gene ''Lr34'' in Seedlings and Adult Plants|journal=Plant Disease|volume=76|issue=5|pages=489|doi=10.1094/pd-76-0489|issn=0191-2917}}</ref>