Gloriosa superba

Gloriosa superba, commonly known as the flame lily, is a cormous climbing plant that reaches heights from 20 cm to 2 m. Climbing is facilitated by tendrils that grow from the leaf-tips. The plant is well known for its very attractive and popular flowers.

In South Africa G. superba grows along the coast in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, as well as in the Mpumalanga and Limpopo Lowveld. It also occurs in some neighbouring countries, including Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia.

In habitat the plant tends to ramble in semi-shade of scrub, woodland and coastal bush, often in sandy soils. Dormant in the dry winters of its summer rainfall habitat, all its deciduous, above-ground parts disappear annually. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century. 

G. superba is grown commercially as a garden subject, cut flower, container plant, and for certain chemical substances obtained from it. The plant has a variety of traditional medicinal uses. The seeds are sometimes used as beads. G. superba is the national flower of Zimbabwe where it is protected. It is also recognized as a symbol in certain parts of India. 

All parts of the plant are highly poisonous, containing a substance called colchicine, a name reminding of the plant family to which it belongs (Pooley, et al, 2025; Manning, 2009; Pooley, 1998; www.plantzafrica.com; iNaturalist; Wikipedia; http://redlist.sanbi.org).