''Cyanella hyacinthoides'' ("lady's hand" or "Raaptoluintjie") is a species of

corm A corm, bulbo-tuber, or bulbotuber is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ that some plants use to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (perennation). The word ' ...

ous annual or

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herb native to the western parts of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Description

Cyanella hyacinthoides - Ladies hand (30744373736)

It has a basal rosette, with slender, lanceolate, crisped (wavy-margins) leaves. The mauve, pink, purple or blue (rarely white) flowers are mildly scented, and appear on a spreading inflorescence in Spring (August to November in the southern hemisphere). The plant can be up to 40 centimetres high.

Distribution and habitat

It is native to the Cape region of

, especially the renosterveld, where it usually grows in loamy soil in clay and granite slopes. Its range extends as far north as the Namaqualand, and southwards into the

Overberg __NOTOC__ Overberg is a region in South Africa to the east of Cape Town beyond the Hottentots-Holland mountains. It lies along the Western Cape Province's south coast between the Cape Peninsula and the region known as the Garden Route in the e ...

region of the southern Cape, as far as the town of Riversdale. It is also reportedly naturalised in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The bulb is edible once cooked, and is said to serve as an

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

substitute. It tolerates drought but is vulnerable to frost.

References

External links

* Tecophilaeaceae Endemic flora of South Africa Flora of the Cape Provinces Renosterveld Edible plants Plants described in 1754 {{Asparagales-stub