Hypoxis hemerocallidea

Hypoxis hemerocallidea, the African potato, is much used in traditional medicine. It received the wrong kind of fame in South Africa for some time when mythical properties were ascribed to it relating to the treatment of HIV/AIDS. 

Several more species of Hypoxis or star lilies grow in and around the Magaliesberg. H. argentea, H. rigidula, H. obtusa and H. nitida are some of them.

The narrow, strap-shaped, hairy leaves and bright yellow flowers are common in the open grass-veld. Hypoxis plants are geophytes, i.e. they store nutrients in underground rootstocks; corms that facilitate the annual regrowth of above-ground plant parts (Letty, 1962; Carruthers, 1990).