Babiana bainesii

Babiana bainesii, sometimes called the tropical bobbejaantjie and in Afrikaans the bobbejaanuintjie (small baboon nutsedge), is a cormous, stemless perennial reaching heights around 25 cm. The often deep-seated corm is about globose, covered in a tunic of tough fibrous layers ending in a long neck. The roots may be contractile. The plant sometimes grows clumps.

About seven or eight narrowly sword-shaped leaves are grown from the base, the “petioles” underground. The blades have pleated surfaces that are hairy, bristly or not hairy at all. The erect leaf tips are acutely pointed, taller than the flowers. Leaf dimensions are from 15 cm to 25 cm long and from 3 mm to 10 mm wide. 

The species distribution is from the Northern Cape, the Free State and North West to Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, as well as widespread in other southern African countries to tropical Africa.

The habitat is sandy and stony flats and slopes of dry grassland and bushveld, sometimes among rocks. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century.

The corms are edible. The leaves are grazed by game and stock. The hardy plant features in horticulture (Manning, 2009; Shearing and Van Heerden, 2008; Lowrey and Wright, 1987; iNaturalist; Wikipedia; https://wildflowernursery.co.za; http://redlist.sanbi.org).