Bulbine frutescens

Bulbine frutescens, commonly the kopiva or stalked bulbine and in Afrikaans the rankkopieva (trailing kopiva) or geelkatstert (yellow cat's tail), is a tufted, shrubby perennial growing from wiry roots. The plant branches, growing many cylindrical, succulent leaves, smooth and erect with pointed tips. In flower, these plants may become 60 cm tall, their cylindrical leaves 15 cm long and 5 mm in diameter.

Thriving here in full sun and sandy soil of the Addo Elephant Park during March, the open flowers in picture are currently positioned near the middle of the racemes that are about in the middle of their blooming phase. Fruits of the earliest flowers are already forming below, while clustered green buds wait their turn at the top to open. Flower colours of this plant range from white to yellow and orange, the yellow ones most common.

This plant grows widespread in all nine provinces of South Africa and in several neighbouring states.

The habitat is very diverse, in summer and winter rainfall regions, receiving little to much rain. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Smith and Crouch, 2009; iNaturalist; iSpot; http://redlist.sanbi.org).