Dierama dracomontanum

Dierama dracomontanum, commonly the Drakensberg hairbell, is a cormous perennial growing a slender, wiry annual flowering stem that reaches about 1 m in height, but is often less than half that and usually drooping. The fibre-coated corms are about 1 cm to 2 cm in diameter.

The sword-shaped leaves are long and narrow, grass-like. The flowers may be dominant on some slopes of its range from late spring through summer.   

The species distribution is in the Drakensberg as the specific name indicates. It is predominantly found in the Lesotho Malutis, as well as in the far east of the Free State, the west of KwaZulu-Natal and the far north of the Eastern Cape.

The habitat is mountainous grassland at elevations from 1525 m to 2800 m. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century.

The plant is grown horticulturally from corms or seed (Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist; www.rareplants.co.uk; ww.pacificbulbsociety.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).