Colchicum longipes

Colchicum longipes, commonly men-in-a-longboat and previously scientifically Androcymbium longipes, is a cormous perennial. The corm is slightly flattened, covered in blackish fibres. The plant is summer-dormant.

At least four smooth, green leaves are grown. They are lanceolate, channelled and shiny, tapering to acutely pointed tips. Two more or less opposite leaves become longest, close to the ground. The others angle up and outwards. The longest leaves are about 20 cm long, rarely wider than 1 cm only at the base.

The species distribution is in the Western Cape from Ladismith eastwards through the Little Karoo and along the coast to the Eastern Cape as far as Mount Fletcher. The photo was taken at Minwater near Oudtshoorn.

The habitat is diverse fynbos, renosterveld, scrub and grassland, the plants usually in the shade of bigger plants in often moist, stony places. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century.

The bulb was used in making an eye ointment (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; iNaturalist; https://kumbulanursery.co.za; https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).