Description
(syn. minor, humilis, nervosa)
A superb plant and one of the best of the smaller species. It makes compact, tidy growth with the overlapping leaves pressed flat to the soil surface. These are rounded and have a bright red margin, which is tough and leathery. In our form the foliage is dark green, somewhat striated, with a double row of red-brown bristles at the margins.
The flowers are held in a compact umbel on a short stem above the ground. Individual flowers are a good size and they are bright pink with dark anthers. They are very attractive and have a highly evolved, zygomorphic shape. The compact habit makes them an excellent pot subject for growing under glass (like all Brunsvigia this is not hardy in the UK). A fertile, well-drained, loam-based compost is needed.
In the wild this is found both in winter-rainfall areas (mostly) but also in summer rainfall areas. It is spread from the westerly Cape provinces, across the Karoo as far as the E. Cape.
Photograph © Dennis Tsang, with many thanks.
