Wachendorfia thyrsiflora (Bloodroot, Red root)

Rooikanol [Afrikaans]

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) > Monocotyledons > Commelinales > Family: Haemodoraceae

Widespread in fynbos of the Western and Eastern Cape, occurring in marshes and along streams, growing to 1-2 m high. The rhizome has bright red flesh (hence the common names) and is used to produce a reddish brown dye. 

Wachendorfia thyrsiflora flowering on the Tsitsikamma Hiking Trail, Western Cape, South Africa. [photos H.G. Robertson, Iziko ©]
Wachendorfia thyrsiflora, Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve, Kleinmond, Western Cape, South Africa. [photo H.G. Robertson, Iziko ©]
Honeybee (Apis mellifera) pollinating Wachendorfia thyrsiflora at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Cape Peninsula, South Africa. [photo H.G. Robertson, Iziko ©]

Wachendorfia thyrsiflora is by far the tallest of the four Wachendorfia species, usually growing to a height of 1-2 m. Plants grow in seasonally or permanently waterlogged soils in fynbos from Clanwilliam through to Humansdorp, often dominating entire flood plains of lowland streams and producing a mass of yellow flowers from September to December.  

Flowers last for less than a day but do not open simultaneously so that during the flowering season there are usually a few flowers open on each pannicle. 

The red-coloured flesh of the rhizome is characteristic of all four species and is used to make a reddish brown dye.