Drimia ciliata

Drimia ciliata, sometimes commonly called the hairyfringe squill and previously scientifically known as Urginea ciliata, is a bulbous perennial reaching heights around 15 cm when flowering. The bulb is nearly globose, up to 25 mm in diameter.

A rosette of up to ten broadly elliptic to obovate leaves that taper to pointed tips grows flat on the ground in winter, the leaves dry when the plant flowers. The smooth, medium green to dark green, leathery leaves have margins that are densely and bristly white-fringed. The specific name, ciliata, is derived from the Latin word cilium meaning an eyelid, referring to the leaf fringes resembling eyelashes. The leaves are 35 mm long and 12 mm wide.

The inflorescence is a loose raceme of ten to fifteen nodding flowers on a mostly erect scape and pedicels of about 7 mm. There are tiny, triangular bracts below the pedicels. The perianths consists of oblong, white segments or tepals that are translucent with light brown to purple keels. The inner tepals spread, the outer ones recurve somewhat.

The stamens are short, their filaments white and the anthers dark yellow to brown. The flowers are sweetly honeysuckle scented. Flowering happens in summer.

The species distribution is mainly coastal from Bredasdorp in the Western Cape to Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape and also inland over the coastal mountains, at least in the Little Karoo and the Langkloof. The photo was taken southwest of Oudtshoorn.

The habitat is rocky outcrops in fynbos and renosterbos. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century.

Some older inhabitants of the Little Karoo and surrounds used to eat the D. ciliata bulb, calling it vettekaan. It "makes the mouth feel fatty". (Vet is the Afrikaans for fat.)

Experts might refuse to taste any Drimia part, as many of the plants are known to be poisonous. Spare a thought for the brave ancestors who died experimenting on lush looking bulbs, leaves, fruits and roots. They sacrificed themselves while discovering the exceptions that (dis)proved the rules. Their contributions to knowledge added dietary options where and when food was scarce. The same argument holds for traditional medicine plants.

There also was a D. ciliaris, these days called D. elata, growing in eight of South Africas provinces. Never mix up species when eating plants of genera that contain known poisonous species; the perennial concern for mushroom collectors (Louis Jordaan, personal communication; Curtis-Scott, et al, 2017; iNaturalist; http://www.llifle.com; http://worldfloraonline.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).