Albuca secunda

Albuca secunda, previously Ornithogalum secundum, is a perennial herb that produces a flowerhead with many yellow flowers. The flowers have green midribs on their spreading to recurved petals. Flowering occurs in spring.

 The strap-like leaves have finely fringed, translucent edges. They remain prostrate on the ground and will have withered away by flowering time.

These plants grow in sandy soil in the Western Cape and Namaqualand.

Of the five Mediterranean-climate ecosystems on the earth, the Cape Mediterranean zone of South Africa, i.e. the south-western winter rainfall area has the largest diversity of geophytes or bulbous plants. The list comprises 2100 species growing there, 84% of them endemic, i.e. occurring naturally only in this area. 

The neighbouring Karoo type semi-arid veld with much less rain, but receiving it in winter, is also rich in geophytes, i.e. plants with storage organs in the form of bulbs, corms, rhizomes and tubers (Le Roux, et al, 2005; aob.oxfordjournals.org; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).