Disa graminifolia

Disa graminifolia, commonly the blue disa or sometimes the grass disa, in Afrikaans the bloumoederkappie (mother’s blue bonnet) and previously scientifically Herschelia graminifolia, is a slender-stemmed, tuberous perennial that reaches 60 cm in height. 

Carpenter bees are the main pollinators of the blue disa. This is an insect apparently not strong on flower species identification. The plant mimics other nectar-bearing blue flowering species found in the same or partly overlapping distributions, and benefits from the pollinator’s mistaken expectation of finding nectar in these flowers. If mimicry gets the job done, nectar glands are unnecessary.

The species distribution is in the Western Cape from the Cape Peninsula eastwards along the coast to the west of the Eastern Cape.

The habitat is higher, rocky, fynbos slopes in sandstone. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2007; Bean and Johns, 2005; iNaturalist; iSpot; http://redlist.sanbi.org).