Albuca longipes

Albuca longipes, in Afrikaans the pronktamarak (the strut or display tamarak), is a winter-growing, bulbous perennial growing annual above-ground parts to heights from 20 cm to 30 cm. The upper part of the bulb ends in a papery neck.

The plant grows two or three slender, channelled and erect leaves directly from the bulb. They usually wither before the plant flowers.

The species distribution is in the Western Cape, the western part of the Northern Cape (Namaqualand) and slightly into the west of the Eastern Cape. The photo was taken in the Biedouw Valley.

The habitat is clay, lime or dry, silty loam soils where the plants grow on exposed slopes and flats in the winter rainfall region. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; www.pacificbulbsociety.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).