Lachenalia

Did you know

• Lachenalia, commonly called Cape cowslip, blooms in the South African winter — one of the few bulbous plants that thrives in cold, wet Fynbos seasons.
• The genus contains roughly 115 species, almost all endemic to the Western Cape's Fynbos and Succulent Karoo biomes.
• Named after Werner de Lachenal, an 18th-century Swiss botanist from Basel who catalogued Alpine and Southern African plants.
• Many lachenalia species produce offsets freely and can naturalize in favorable climates, forming dense colorful colonies.
• The flowers have an unusual pendant, tubular shape and often display multiple colors on a single spike — orange at the tip, yellow in the middle, red at the base.

Color meanings

Uses

• ornamental bulb
• container gardening
• cut flower