Tulbaghia violacea

Tulbaghia violacea, commonly known as wild garlic or society garlic, is a rhizomatous perennial reaching heights from 20 cm to 50 cm when in flower.

The plant multiplies over time into a dense cluster, a good candidate for herbaceous borders. This is a popular garden plant grown in most parts of South Africa and elsewhere.

The leaves are narrow, fleshy and strap-shaped, smelling of garlic. Several flowerheads may be presented above the tuft of grey-green leaves.

The mauve to purple flowers form an umbel at the top of a long, erect, leafless scape. The flower has six tepals that form a narrow tube at the base and fan out in a star-shape from the mouth where three tiny lobes are erect like a crown. 

The species distribution is in the Western Cape from Ladismith in the Little Karoo, the Eastern Cape and into KwaZulu-Natal.

The habitat is moist, sandy soils, coastally and inland, as well as mountain slopes in various vegetation mixes. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Gledhill, 1981; www.plantzafrica.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).