The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Chasmanthe floribunda
Also called Cobra lily, African Corn Flag, Aunt Eliza, African Flag, Flames
Chasmanthe floribunda is a deciduous corm-forming bulb from the Western Cape of South Africa, grown for its orange-red tubular spring flowers. Give it full sun, very well-drained soil and a dry summer dormancy.
Chasmanthe floribunda is a species of flowering plant in the iris family which is known by the common name African flag.
For its cultivation it needs very well-drained soil and a place in full sun. It propagates easily by growing bulblets around the original corm, and also multiplies by seeds. Chasmanthe emerges from the ground in autumn in the Western Cape, South Africa, after the first winter rains. It is frequented by sunbirds, which feed on the nectar it provides at this time of year. It flourishes and flowers in both sun and shade.
This plant is endemic to Cape Province in South Africa, but it has been introduced to other areas of similar climate, and is considered to be naturalized in California, Algeria, Australia, Argentina, and St. Helena.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Chasmanthe floribunda 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.
