Babiana Leipoldtii - Indigenous South African Bulb - 5 Seeds

Babiana is a genus of flowering plants in the Family Iridaceae composed of about 80 species. Most of these species (about 49) are found in the south-western Cape of Africa, with the remainder distributed in Namaqualand and Northern Cape Province. The native range of the genus is from southern Namibia to the Eastern Cape to southern Zimbabwe, with one species from Socotra off the coast of Somalia (although this may not be a species of Babiana). The genus name is derived from the Dutch word babianer, referring to the African ape that consumes the corms of plants in the genus. Large scented blue flowers are a feature of this spring flowering indigenous bulb plant.

Babiana leipoldtiigrows in seasonally damp sandy flats near Darling in the Cape. Plants are 10 to 18 cm tall with lanceolate, pleated, hairy leaves, usually reaching to the base of the spike. Flowers are actinomorphic and blue-violet, somewhat darker in the centre and sometimes with red markings in the lower third of the tepals. VERY RARE!

USDA Zone - 8

Season to Sow - Autumn