Lady's hand
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Tecophilaeaceae
Genus: Cyanella
Species:
C. hyacinthoides
Binomial name
Cyanella hyacinthoides
Royen ex L.
Synonyms[1]

Cyanella pentheri Zahlbr.

Cyanella hyacinthoides ("lady's hand" or "Raaptoluintjie") is a species of cormous annual or perennial herb native to the western parts of South Africa.

Description

Detail of the flower of Cyanella hyacinthoides

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.[2][3]

Distribution and habitat

It is native to the Cape region of South Africa, 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 region of the southern Cape, as far as the town of Riversdale.

It is also reportedly naturalised in Western Australia.[4]

The bulb is edible once cooked, and is said to serve as an onion substitute.[5]

It tolerates drought but is vulnerable to frost.

References

  1. ↑ The Plant List, Cyanella hyacinthoides
  2. ↑ "Cyanella hyacinthoides L." FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  3. ↑ Linnaeus, Carl von. 1754. Genera Plantarum, ed. 5 522, et addenda, Cyanella hyacinthoides
  4. ↑ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Cyanella hyacinthoides
  5. ↑ "Cyanella hyacinthoides Lady's Hand PFAF Plant Database".
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