Spetaea lachenaliiflora

Spetaea lachenaliiflora is commonly called the Cape bluebell, the blouberglelie (blue moutain lily) in Afrikaans and scientifically previously Scilla plumbea according to some authors, but not the same plant as Merwilla plumbea that shared an earlier name with it. S. lachenaliiflora is a bulbous, deciduous perennial reaching heights from 10 cm to 40 cm, rarely near the upper limit. The bulb is covered in a tunic. The genus is monotypic. 

The fleshy leaves are long and narrow, channelled on top, or with their smooth margins rolled inwards. 

The small species distribution is in the Western Cape, only in the mountains near Du Toit’s Kloof and Bainskloof, also spotted in the Groot Winterhoek wilderness area.

The habitat is fynbos on damp, sandstone cliff ledges and seeps around river valleys. The habitat population is deemed vulnerable early in the twenty first century, due to invasive alien vegetation (Manning, 2007; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).