Dierama reynoldsii

Dierama reynoldsii is a cormous perennial growing solitary. Its corm is up to 3 cm in diameter. The generic name, Dierama, is a Greek word meaning funnel, referring to the flower shape.

The plant resembles the darker flowering form of D. latifolium but the flowers are wine-red and the tepals are pointed. D. dubium of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands is related.

A sparse, annual tuft of narrow, strap-shaped leaves and a wiry, slender flowering stem are grown. The leaves are fibrous without a midrib. Leaf dimensions are 50 cm to 1 m long and 4 mm to 6 mm wide.

The species distribution is in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape in grassland at high elevations, also found in Lesotho. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist; www.crocus.co.uk; www.plantzafrica.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).