Albuca suaveolens

Albuca suaveolens, sometimes called the striped tamarak, in Afrikaans the bonttjienk (multicoloured chincherinchee), and previously scientifically Ornithogalum suaveolens, is a bulbous plant that grows annual leaves and an unbranched scape to around 50 cm in height.

The narrow leaves clasp the stem base. They become 40 cm long and 1 cm wide, but may be dry when the plant flowers.

The species distribution is the Western Cape, the Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape as far east as Humansdorp. The plant is not a South African endemic, found also in at least Namibia.

The habitat is fairly arid scrubveld and renosterveld on rocky sandstone flats and slopes. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; www.pacificbulbsociety.org; https://redlist.sanbi.org).