This tiny flower is three millimetres
high, one in diameter.
The rough material behind the
flower is my fingerprint.
Grit is 5 millimetres. |
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This tiny member of the
Hyacinthaceae family was given this name by John C.
Manning and Peter Goldblatt in 2000. It is found in southern
Africa from Namaqualand to Zimbabwe. It grows in rock cracks, in well
drained but rich soil with little to some water and little to some
sun. The bulb can grow to six millimetres, but most I have see was
not more than three millimetres in diameter. The one or even two narrow leaves
grow from four up to six centimetres while the inflorescent reaches up to nine
centimetres with a white flower of two or three millimetres.
It is usually found in dense groups in the cracks underneath
boulders.
It is said to be the world's
smallest flowering bulb, and I guess that could be right.
In the wild, it might be
a winter grower, but it do fine at summer at my place.
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