Albuca virens subsp. virens

Albuca virens subsp. virens, previously known as Ornithogalum tenuifolium and commonly known in Afrikaans as the bosui (bush onion), is a deciduous, bulbous perennial, regrowing every spring from the underground bulb. The plant has a slender, erect growth habit.

The species has a large distribution, ranging from the Eastern Cape to KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, as well as Gauteng, the Free State and the Northern Cape.

In favourable conditions the plant reaches a height of 60 cm in parts of its varied habitat, while this plant blooming on the Magaliesberg in November was well less than half that. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Van Wyk and Malan, 1997; Lowrey and Wright, 1987; http://redlist.sanbi.org).