Cyanella lutea subsp. lutea

Cyanella lutea subsp. lutea, in Afrikaans commonly the geelraaptol (yellow turnip top), is the yellow-flowering subspecies of this cormous perennial that reaches heights from 12 cm to 25 cm.

Subsp. lutea is the more narrowly confined and often seen subspecies, mainly occurring in the Western Cape with slight spreading into the southwest of the Northern Cape in the Bokkeveld Mountains and into the Eastern Cape in the Kouga Mountains. The photo was taken west of Barrydale.

The species habitat is fynbos including arid fynbos, also succulent Karoo and renosterveld. The plants grow in clayey or sandy soils and on limestone flats. The subspecies is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century.

The corms (uintjies in local parlance) are, or used to be sought after as food, eaten raw or boiled in milk (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Privett and Lutzeyer, 2010; Manning, 2007; Mustart, 1997; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).