''Albuca acuminata'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of small, perennial,

bulb In botany, a bulb is a short underground stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

ous plant in the

asparagus family Asparagaceae (), known as the asparagus family, is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. The family name is based on the edible garden asparagus, ''Asparagus officinalis''. This family includes both commo ...

. It is native to southern Africa from Namibia to the Cape Province of South Africa, where it occurs in rocky areas, as far east as

Port Alfred Port Alfred is a small town with a population of just under 26,000 in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated on the eastern seaboard of the country at the mouth of the Kowie River, almost exactly halfway between the larger ci ...

Description

A geophyte reaching 20–30 cm in height. The

usually has numerous fibres around the top, made from the persistent remnants of the leaf-tunics. The species bears 2-to-10 smooth, slender, linear, channeled leaves. The leaves are clasping at the base. The slender peduncle terminates in a lax raceme. The flowers are drooping ('nodding') and pale yellow with broad green central stripes.

References

acuminata Flora of the Cape Provinces Flora of Namibia {{Asparagaceae-stub