Lachenalia obscura

Lachenalia obscura is a bulbous perennial that rarely reaches heights above 20 cm. There is a transparent membrane above the bulb and below the soil surface around the leaves and stem of lachenalias.

The one or two leaves that L. obscura annually grows are obliquely angled outwards from the flower stem and clasping it. In picture the leaf is red-purple near its base, brighter than the flower itself. This colouring may sometimes cover the entire lower leaf surface. Scattered dull purple blotches of irregular shape can be seen on the upper surface. The leaf-shape is oblong, tapering to the tip.

The sessile or almost stalkless flowers on the spike are dull-green, yellow-green or sometimes pink, cream in parts; on this specimen dull green with grey or bluish markings. The funnel-shaped corolla may sometimes have magenta tips; quite a few colours involved in a rather dull looking inflorescence. The stamens are initially concealed within the corolla.

The species distribution is in the west of the Northern Cape, in Namaqualand from Steinkopf in the south of the Richtersveld and in the Western Cape, in the west of the Karoo and the Little Karoo as far as Montagu.

The habitat is stony flats in loamy, sandy or clayey soil where it receives winter rain. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; www.pacificbulbsociety.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).