Cyanella hyacinthoides

Cyanella hyacinthoides, commonly lady’s hand or in Afrikaans raaptol (turnip top), is a cormous perennial, annually reaching heights between 20 cm and 40 cm. The corm grows deep in the earth, as those that dig it up to eat know or discover.

The species is distributed in the western parts of the Northern Cape and the Western Cape from Steinkopf in Namaqualand to Riversdale in the southern Cape. The photo was taken in the Biedouw Valley.

The habitat is renosterveld, fynbos and succulent Karoo in clay and loam soils, often on granitic slopes, but occasionally also sandstone and limestone. The plants are adapted to winter growing when the (low) rainfall of its home ground is received. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2007; Bean and Johns, 2005; Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).