Lachenalia bulbifera flowering when ready

This crowded colony of Lachenalia bulbifera plants has four members in the throes of flower production, the rest still growing their bulbs. Earlier, when they were still few and had the run of the place they could manoeuvre freely. Now their kin, all the bulbils produced at their own leaf edges low down have sprouted, shouting for Lebensraum. Stunted growth caused by reduced nutrient absorption may follow, or some may die in the family competition.

The channelled L. bulbifera leaves in picture vary in curvature, all of them low in spots on the green surfaces, or lacking the markings altogether. The yellow-green flower stems have distinct, scattered blotches, however, variously shaped and more in number nearer the flowers than the base.

The inner tepals of these flowers don’t seem to protrude beyond the tips of the outer ones at all (Manning, 2007; Manning and Goldblatt, 1996; iNaturalist).