Caesia contorta

Caesia contorta, sometimes called the common grasslily and in Afrikaans the sokkiesblom (socks flower) or bloutjienks (blue chincherinchees), is a resprouting perennial, an evergreen with grass-like leaf tufts, growing from a small rhizome that may appear woody. The sprawling tussocks are up to 40 cm tall. The Caesia genus comprises about 12 species, three of which occur in South Africa.

The strap-shaped leaves are 30 cm long and 1 cm wide, folded in their lower sections. When not flowering, Caesia plants may be mistaken for grasses. 

The species distribution is widespread in the Western Cape from southern Namaqualand to the southern Cape and Little Karoo, less common coastally through the Eastern Cape to the far south of KwaZulu-Natal.

This plant grows in sandy soil on fynbos flats and slopes, also in transitional shrubland. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Bean and Johns, 2005; Pooley, 1998; Manning and Goldblatt, 1996; iNaturalist; iSpot; http://redlist.sanbi.org).