About Ammocharis longifolia (L.) Herb.
Ammocharis longifolia (L.) Herb. is a perennial geophyte that grows from large bulbs measuring 100–150 mm across. It produces 9–14 prostrate leaves, and an inflorescence bearing 13 to 90 funnel-shaped flowers. Flower color ranges from ivory to pale or dark pink, and the tepals are fused together to form a floral tube. This species can be told apart from other Ammocharis species by two key traits: it has zygomorphic flowers, while other species in the genus have actinomorphic flowers, and it has a distinct seed dispersal mechanism that gives the species its name. Its wind-dispersed indehiscent fruiting head (infructescence) dries quickly and breaks off the plant as a single unit. This unit tumbles and rolls away across the ground when carried by wind. A second distinguishing feature of its infructescence involves the pedicels: they elongate, spread apart, stiffen, and end up radiating equally in all directions. This species is distributed across southern Namibia and western Cape Province, a region that forms the extreme western winter rainfall zone of southern Africa.
