Albuca concordiana

Albuca concordiana is a geophytic perennial that reaches 20 cm in height when in flower. The plant was called Ornithogalum concordianum and O. apertum at different times in the past, although it started off in the literature as an Albuca and has for now been returned to that genus.

The plant forms clumps from offsets and is summer dormant.

The species distribution is wide, ranging from Namibia southwards through Namaqualand, the Knersvlakte and eastwards through the Karoo and Little Karoo as far as Uniondale. The photo was taken at the Minwater farm near Oudtshoorn.

The concordiana specific epithet refers to the Namaqualand town of Concordia where the observation that led to the first recording of the species was made.

The habitat is stony flats among various kinds of scrub in hot, dry conditions. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; www.pacificbulbsociety.org; www.huntington.org; www.redlist.sanbi.org).