Ornithogalum graminifolium

Ornithogalum graminifolium, commonly known in Afrikaans as the grastjienk (grass chincherinchee), is a bulbous, deciduous perennial reaching heights annually from 10 cm to 45 cm.

The two to five grass-like, thin, narrow and nearly erect leaves often have hairy margins and reddish colouring on the outside surfaces. The leaf bases are papery, forming a sheath around the stem. Leaf length is up to 25 cm. The leaves are sometimes dry when the plants flower.

The specific name, graminifolium, is derived from the Latin words gramineus meaning grass or grassy and folium meaning a leaf, referring to the grass-like foliage.

The flowers grow in a narrow raceme on short pedicels, only few opening concurrently. Flower colour is white, pale pink or dull yellow, the flowers from 10 mm to 20 mm long. Flowering happens mostly in summer.

The fairly wide distribution range of the species includes the Western Cape, the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and parts of the Free State.

The common habitat is clayey, rocky slopes in seasonally moist, sometimes grassy places. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2007; Pooley, 1998; Moriarty, 1997; Andrew, 2017; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).