Pterygodium pentherianum

Pterygodium pentherianum, sometimes called the pale chin bonnet and in Afrikaans bleekvlerkies (little pale wings), is a slender geophyte of 10 cm to 20 cm in height.

There are up to three stem-sheathing leaves, the lower two of which in picture are near the base and large, the one up the stem small. The leaf-shape is oblong-lanceolate to elliptic, tapering to acutely pointed or slightly rounded tips. The leaves become up to 8 cm long and 2,5 cm wide.

The species distribution is in the northwest of the Western Cape from Clanwilliam and Piketberg across the western Karoo to the Hex River Mountains, Matjiesfontein and Sutherland. The photo was taken near the road between the Biedouw Valley and Wuppertal.

The plants grow in sheltered renosterveld and montane, arid fynbos among bushes and rocks in clayey to loamy soils. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Liltved and Johnson, 2012; Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).