Moraea serpentina

Moraea serpentina, in Afrikaans the slanguintjie (snake nutsedge), is a deciduous perennial reaching 20 cm in height.

It bears one to five long, narrow leaves that are twisted, keeled and channelled, sometimes coiled.

The distribution is in Namaqualand and Bushmanland in the Northern Cape, slightly into the Western Cape in the Olifants River Valley. The photo was taken in the Biedouw Valley.

The habitat is succulent Karoo, Nama Karoo, semi-desert and arid fynbos on dry, sandy and stony flats and lower slopes, sometimes from crevices of granitic rock. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2009; Le Roux, et al, 2005; iNaturalist; www.pacificbulbsociety.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).