Ornithogalum sardienii in mini-ensemble

The Little Karoo is not semi-desert although recent, prolonged droughts raise concerns in that regard.

This uncommon ensemble of mini-plants growing in the veld near Calitzdorp reminds all that natural beauty does not disappear with the rain. The four globular “objects” with papery jackets and stylish, (leafy) hairdos are Ornithogalum sardienii, a rare plant distributed in a restricted area in these parts.

Sharing their gravelly fissure home are a couple of brown, pointy-leaved astrolobas, a purple-blotched, round-leaved Adromischus maculatus and what appears like a battling young Trichodiadema sporting ample leaf-tip bristles.

This community may qualify as a rainbow village in a Rainbow Nation sans rainbow living through a particularly parched patch. May they soon be raising their voices in a moisture-blessed chorus of “Happy days are here again!”