Xerophyta schlechteri (Baker) N. L. Menezes

schlechteri: after Friedrich Richard Rudolf Schlechter (1872-1925), German botanist, traveler and plant collector in Africa.

Stemless perennial, up to c. 30 cm tall, growing from a horizontal rhizome, often forming dense colonies. Leaves 8-16 in a rosette at ground level, stiff-leathery, linear up to 30 cm long, hairless; margin serrate. Flowers 1-3 on stcky glandular peduncles up to 30 cm long. Perianth segments lanceolate, 12-30 mm, white, turning blue to purple, sometimes pink or reddish-brown gland-dotted. Capsule 8-9 mm long.

Common

Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, South Africa.