Babiana mucronata subsp. mucronata

Babiana mucronata subsp. mucronata, in Afrikaans known as the rotsbobbejaantjie (little rock baboon) or kraaiuintjie (crow nut-grass), is a cormous perennial reaching heights from 5 cm to 15 cm.

The subspecies distribution is in the inland west of the Western Cape from the Gifberg and the Cederberg to Tulbagh. The photo was taken on the Piketberg.

The habitat is rocky sandstone slopes. This plant is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century.

The other subspecies of B. mucronata, subsp. minor, has a more restricted distribution where rooibos tea farming is expanding on the land. That plant is consequently deemed to be endangered.

B. mucronata resembles two other species commonly bearing pale tepals in the lower lip: B. fourcadei of the Little Karoo and the Langeberg region of the southern Cape, and B. patula of roughly the same region as well as westward to Caledon and Tulbagh (Manning, 2007; Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; iNaturalist; https://casabio.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).