Ornithogalum thyrsoides leaves

This Ornithogalum thyrsoides plant, growing in late winter grass near the west coast town of Yzerfontein shows its soft-textured, deciduous leaves. The plant produces five to seven of them annually. The leaves are lance-shaped without the marginal fringes found for instance on O. dubium that grows further to the east.

On this plant the leaves coincide with the flowering. Some plants flower when the leaves have already withered.

The floral bracts found below each flower in the raceme are large and boat-shaped; particularly the leaf-like one subtending the lowest flower in the photo. At the top of the raceme bract functionality, providing a protective cover over the buds, is still in evidence (Manning, 2007).