Ornithogalum pruinosum

Ornithogalum pruinosum, commonly the wit-dirkie (white, dirkie a proper name), is a geophyte, meaning it has a perennial, underground nutrient and moisture storage organ, a bulb from which above-ground components grow annually to heights around 50 cm. 

At the base of the plant the stalk is clasped by four to six broad, triangular leaves, grey-green in colour.

The compact raceme of white flowers appears at the top of a sturdy, erect flower stalk. Each fragrant flower is a wide cup of six tepals with pointed, acute tips spreading to about 2 cm in diameter. In the flower centre the stamens, topped with yellow anthers, spread around the prominent yellow ovary and style. There is usually an olive-green mark of varying intensity at each tepal base. Blooming happens in early spring.

The species distribution is in the Northern Cape from the Richtersveld, Calvinia and Kuruman southwards across Namaqualand to the Western Cape, as far as the Knersvlakte and the western Karoo. This photo was taken in September north of Garies.

The habitat is dry, rocky slopes, plateaus and granitic outcrops. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; www.huntington.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).