''Cyanella lutea'' (commonly known as "Five-fingers" or "Geelraaptol") 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 herb, native to

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 ...

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

and

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

, where it grows in clay-rich or loamy soils.

Description

It has a flat basal rosette (plants reach a height of 25 cm) of 4-6 lanceolate, crisped (wavy margins), ribbed leaves. The rosette of leaves usually dies off, before the flowers appear. The yellow or pink flowers are 15mm wide and appear on a branched inflorescence in late Spring.

Subspecies

* subsp. ''lutea'' occurs in rocky clay, shale or limestone soils in the Western Cape Province, from the Bokkeveld mountains in the north, to

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

in the west, and eastwards through the

Little Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hardveld") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its ext ...

and

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 ...

regions as far as the Kouga mountains in the Eastern Cape Province. * subsp. ''rosea'' occurs in dry sandy or calcareous soils to the east and far north ( Eastern Cape Province,

Northern Cape Province The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, ...

and Free State.

References

External links

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