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Babiana vanzijliae
Babiana vanzijliae is a small tuberous geophyte in the iris family, growing only 4 to 12 cm high, with pale bluish mauve to yellow scented flowers in late winter and spring. It is native to a small area of the Northern Cape, South Africa, and needs a dry, well-drained, sunny spot with a summer dormancy.
Babiana vanzijliae is a species of geophyte of 4–12 cm (1.6–4.7 in) high that is assigned to the family Iridaceae. It has leaves that consist of a sheath and a blade that are at an angle with each other. The leaf blades are narrow, sword- to lance-shaped and have a left and right surface, rather than an upper and lower surface. The leaf blades are pleated and covered in velvety hairs. The inflorescence contains three to five pale bluish mauve to yellow flowers, but the lower lateral tepals are yellow becoming pale around the edges, and with three stamens crowding under the upper lip. Flowering occurs from early August to the middle of September. The flowers emit a strong scent. B. vanzijliae grows along the Bokkeveld Escarpment near Nieuwoudtville in the Northern Cape province of South Africa.
Babiana vanzijliae can be found on the high plateau bordering the escarpment between somewhat north of the Nieuwoudtville Pass and Papkuilsfontein Farm in the south, and about 15 km (9.3 mi) inland from the escarpment. Here it grows both in renosterveld and fynbos, on tillite-derived soils and rocky sandstone. It is considered a near-threatened species, because its distribution range is less than 600 km2 (230 mi2), within which it occurs in ten to fifteen locations, and its population is declining as its habitat is reclaimed for the cultivation of rooibos and wheat, but the species is still fairly common.
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Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Babiana vanzijliae by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
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.
