Trachyandra falcata

Trachyandra falcata is an erect perennial that grows flowering stems to heights from 60 cm to 1 m, depending on conditions in the part of the plant’s distribution.

Four or five basal leaves are grown, broadly sickle-shaped with entire margins tapering towards the tips. Leaf colour varies from dark green to bluish green; yellowing or reddening is associated with stress caused by low moisture or nutrient availability and possibly extreme temperature. The leaf texture is leathery, the surfaces sometimes hairy. Leaf dimensions are about 30 cm long and 4 cm wide.

The white or pale mauve flowers with brown central bands along their six tepals are borne on a stout, unbranched or sparsely branched stalk. Flowering happens from midwinter to midspring.

The species is distributed in a broad coastal band along the west of the country from the Western Cape through the Northern Cape to southern Namibia.The photo was taken in Goegap during August.

The plants grow in diverse sandy or clayey soils on flats and slopes in a winter rainfall region. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2007; Le Roux, et al, 2005; http://redlist.sanbi.org).