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Hypoxis hemerocallidea
Also called African Stargrass, African Potato, Potato Stargrass, Tonic Stargrass
Hypoxis hemerocallidea is a tuberous geophyte with grass-like leaves and yellow star-shaped flowers, native to southern Africa. It is grown mainly as a hardy garden or bulb plant, and the corm is used in traditional medicine.
Hypoxis hemerocallidea, the African star grass or African potato, is a medicinal plant in the Hypoxidaceae family. It is native to southern Africa from South Africa as far north as Mozambique and Zimbabwe. This plant is the best known member of this genus.
Hypoxis is promoted as an alternative medicine treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia, but research has found no evidence of beneficial effect. Additionally, one study suggests Hypoxis alters the activity of cytochrome P450, suggesting that it may interfere with the effectiveness of other drugs or supplements, such as antiretroviral drugs.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Hypoxis hemerocallidea 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.
