Ornithogalum maculatum

Ornithogalum maculatum, commonly known as the snakeflower, and in Afrikaans as the rooi-dirkie (red Dirkie) or the oranjetjienk (orange chincherinchee), is a bulbous perennial that reaches up to 50 cm in height when an inflorescence is present.

The cup-shaped, orange flowers are up to 3 cm in diameter. The flowers sometimes have black markings on the outer three tepal tips, which gave rise to the specific name, maculatum. The flowers are usually orange, sometimes red or yellow.

The species distribution is in the Northern Cape from central Namaqualand to the Western Cape around Malmesbury, the western Karoo, the Little Karoo and across the Swartberg Mountains to Prince Albert.

The habitat is fynbos, succulent Karoo and Nama Karoo where the plants are found on sandstone, granite and shale rocky outcrops, mostly in winter rainfall conditions. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century.

The plants are browsed, and apparently non-toxic, while so many South African Ornithogalum species cause stock diseases, also blindness or death (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Vahrmeijer, 1981; iNaturalist; www.pacificbulbsociety.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).