Chasmanthe aethiopica

Chasmanthe aethiopica, together with its genus mates known as cobra lily and in Afrikaans as the suurkanol (sour bulb) or suurkanolpypie (little sour bulb pipe), is a robust perennial reaching heights from 40 cm to 65 cm when in bloom. The plant grows from a corm in a papery tunic.

The soft leaves grow sword-shaped in a basal fan, the midribs raised. They are present at bloomtime.

The species distribution is coastal in the Western Cape from the Cape Peninsula to the Eastern Cape as far as Gqeberha.

The habitat is damp bush and forest margins on flats and slopes in sandy soil. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Manning 2009; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).