Aristea bakeri

Aristea bakeri is sometimes called the tall Capeblue, commonly known in Afrikaans as the blousuurkanol (blue sour bulb or tuber), a name shared with some other Aristea species, and scientifically previously as A. macrocarpa and A. confusa at different times. It is a tufted perennial growing from an underground rhizome, reaching heights around 1 m, and flowering best after fire. The cylindrical to slightly flattened stems branch much.

The sword-shaped leaves are tough and fibrous. They are less than 5 mm wide and about 60 cm long.

The species distribution is in the south of the Western Cape from the Cape Peninsula to Piketberg and eastwards to the Little Karoo, particularly the Swartberg Mountains, then continuing to the Eastern Cape as far as Gqeberha.

The habitat is fynbos on stony sandstone slopes, sometimes favouring rocky outcrops, and growing at elevations from 200 m to 1500 m. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2007; Bean and Johns, 2005; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).