Hesperantha radiata subsp. radiata

Hesperantha radiata subsp. radiata, commonly known as the evening flower, is a cormous perennial growing slender, deciduous parts above-ground annually, becoming from 20 cm to 40 cm tall.

The short, narrow and fleshy leaves are often withered at bloomtime.

The green floral bracts that envelop the flower tubes are also around the flower stem or spike axis in picture. The flowers nod in a stiffly erect, many-flowered spike, often red or brown on the outsides of the outer three perianth segments or tepals. 

The species distribution is wide-ranging across the southern and central parts of South Africa, occurring in the Western Cape, the Northern Cape, the Eastern Cape, the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, as well as in some neighbouring countries. The photo was taken in the Little Karoo on Minwater near Oudtshoorn.

The habitat is fynbos, grassland, thicket and renosterveld in granitic, clayey and sandy soils. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; Manning, 2007; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).