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Babiana hirsuta
Also called Red Babiana
Babiana hirsuta is a species of geophyte of 40–70 cm (16–28 in) high that is assigned to the family Iridaceae. It has many scarlet mirror-symmetrical flowers in a branched inflorescence with several short ascending branches. The flower has a narrow tube, and three large, blackish or dark purple anthers that extend beyond the dorsal tepal. The leaves are velvety hairy, lance-shaped, laterally compressed and set in a fan. It is an endemic species of South Africa that can be found along the west coast of the Northern and Western Cape provinces as far south as Saldanha. It is called red babiana in English, but that name is also applied to Babiana villosa, and strandlelie, sandlelie and rooihanekam in Afrikaans. Until 2008, the strandlelie was known as Babiana thunbergii.
Strandlelie can be found along the coast of Namaqualand between the mouth of the Orange River in the north and Saldanha Bay in the south. It is likely this species also grows in part of the Sperrgebiet in southwestern Namibia, but this area is closed for plant exploration to avoid illegal diamond mining. The wide perianth of the flower contains much nectar, up to 30 μl, and is pollinated by both dusky and malachite sunbirds. This species grows in the desert and Succulent Karoo on sandy flats and dunes. Here, it has a distribution area of 21,000 km2 (8,100 mi2) and is known from seventeen locations. The species is threatened by diamond mining in the north of its range, while in the south the populations are under pressure due to overgrazing and coastal development. In addition, there are plans to mine heavy minerals near the Groenrivier. Therefore Babiana hirsuta is regarded a near-threatened species.
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Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Babiana hirsuta by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
