Veltheimia bracteata yellow flowers

The yellow flowering form of Veltheimia bracteata is commonly called the sand lily or in Afrikaans sand-ui (sand onion). The flowers have a faint greenish tinge.

The glossy leaves form a ground-level rosette, here growing in nearly full shade in a Western Cape garden. The plant is winter growing, the leaves dying back to some extent depending on conditions. The habitat is Eastern Cape forests and coastal scrub.

There are only two species of Veltheimia left since the last revision. The other one being V. capensis that grows in the drier western and southern parts of South Africa. It has narrower, blue-green leaves, the flowers similar to those of V. bracteata (www.plantzafrica.com; www.pacificbulbsociety.org).