Conicosia elongata

Conicosia elongata, commonly known in Afrikaans as gansies (little geese) or snotwortel (snot root), is a branching, succulent perennial with tuberous roots. The leaves are long, erect or lax and cylindrical, unlike C. pugioniformis, which has leaves that are triangular in cross-section.

Single, pale, yellow flowers on stalks long enough to hold the flowers above the leaves, appear in spring. The flowers have narrow petals. They open after noon on sunny days and exude an unpleasant odour. Seeds are released by valves opening once the dry cone-shaped capsules are dry. These capsules have many separate locules.

Gansies grow in the Western Cape and Northern Cape along the coast and inland on sand and gravel flats (Manning, 2007; Smith, et al, 1998).