Cyrtanthus angustifolius

Cyrtanthus angustifolius, commonly the fire lily and in Afrikaans the brandlelie (burn lily) or rooipypie (little red pipe), is a bulbous perennial that often forms clumps and annually reaches heights up to 45 cm when flowering.

Two to four long, narrow and strap-shaped leaves are usually grown from the ground, concurrent with flowering. The blades are smooth, often channelled above with pointed to rounded tips. Leaf dimensions are about 1 cm wide and 25 cm long.

The specific name, angustifolia, is derived from the Latin words angustus meaning narrow and folium meaning a leaf, referring to the leaf shape.

The species distribution is in the Western Cape from the Cederberg to the Overberg and eastwards to the coastal southwest of the Eastern Cape, as far as Gqeberha.The photo was taken in the Swartberge of the Little Karoo.

The habitat is seasonally wet fynbos slopes and flats, often near streams and in marshy areas or vleis. The plants flower especially well after fire. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2007; Andrew, 2017; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).