Haemanthus humilis subsp. hirsutus

Afrikaans names for this geophyte, like bobbejaanoor (baboon ear) and velskoenblaar (home made leather shoe leaf) do not sound flattering. They do, however, constitute the often apt descriptions of interested people with no pretence at science that frequent the veld and note the habits of plants.

And these names may be no more confusing than the series of botanical name changes this plant, like many plants, has undergone, for those pursuing the paper trails. The names Haemanthus hirsutus and H. candidus are still around in some sources. Naming histories of entities in the biological world assume lives of their own. To be continued as knowledge grows, interest persists or returns... and further evolutionary events merit description and speculation.

The white to pale pink, dome-shaped flowerheads of the hairy subspecies of H. humilis grow on sturdy and, of course, hairy stalks and particularly leaves justifying the hirsute component of the name.

One finds these plants in high altitude, rocky grassland in the eastern and northeastern parts South African summer rainfall area, from the Eastern Cape to Mpumalanga. It becomes cold and dry in winter here. The subspecies is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2009; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).