Ornithogalum toxicarium

Ornithogalum toxicarium, one of the about 80 South African chincherinchee species, is a small bulbous geophyte. It has a dark coloured flower stalk here while no leaves are present. The flowers are compactly presented on the short raceme. The tepals are oblong to elliptic with rounded tips. They are white with buff, longitudinal lines down the centre.

This plant was seen near Kenhardt in the Northern Cape in September. The plant also grows in the Karoo around Beaufort West, the Eastern Cape and Namibia, at least as far north as Keetmanshoop.

O. toxicarium, as the specific name suggests, is toxic to livestock, causing krimpsiekte (Afrikaans for shrinking illness), a condition associated with glycoside poisoning. The fact that the plant population is not threatened early in the twenty first century is not welcomed by sheep farmers (iSpot; www.redlist.sanbi.org).