Wachendorfia thyrsiflora

Wachendorfia thyrsiflora
Wachendorfia thyrsiflora

Common names: marsh butterfly lily (English). 
Botanical name: Wachendorfia thyrsiflora

The marsh butterfly lily, Wachendorfia thyrsiflora, is a striking evergreen plant with tall golden flower spikes and pleated sword-shaped leaves. It belongs to the bloodwort family, named for the red sap in its fleshy rhizomes. It grows in marshy or swampy areas in the Western and Eastern Cape of South Africa, where it attracts pollinators and seed dispersers with its nectar and fuzzy seeds. The rhizomes can be used to make a reddish-brown dye. This plant is easy to grow in wet or moist conditions, in full sun or semi-shade, and can be propagated by seed or division.

Uses & Benefits: dye, ponds & ecopools, pot plant, wetlands

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Nature & Cultivation

Family: Haemodoraceae
Type: aquatic, geophyte
Vegetation type: Peninsula Shale Fynbos 
Flower colour: yellow
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Plant-animal interactions: bees
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