The African Impala Lily’s clear, sticky sap is poisonous and is used by local fishermen to coat the tips of their arrows when shooting fish. The Impala Lily grows at low altitudes in hot, dry, sandy, or rocky habitats or flats, in open deciduous woodland, from sea level to about 1 200 m. Naturally found in South Africa (northern KwaZulu-Natal, eastern Mpumalanga, and Limpopo), eastern Swaziland, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe extending into eastern and western tropical Africa to Malawi and Zambia. Without a doubt, the most attractive species, somewhat like a miniature baobab, being a deciduous thick-stemmed shrub up to 3 m tall.
The large swollen stem, with its smooth grey bark and the branches, contain a watery sap. The leaves are 35-120 Í 15-80 mm, glossy green above, paler beneath, with the midrib and lateral veins distinct above, only the mid-rib prominent below. They are crowded at the tips of branches, are broadly oval, and appear shortly after flowering. Flowers large and showy, white, or pale pink with a pink to the dark red border, the margins of the petals crisped. The flowering time is from May to August. The cigar-shaped fruits split open to release numerous cylindrical, hairy seeds. The name multiflorum is derived from Latin and means many-flowered.
-
Have you seen this flower?
-
Yes
-
No
-
Despite the danger that is one awesome and beautiful flower. Thank you for sharing I had never seen such a flower before.
I hope it brightened up your day, a little.
Sometimes the most beautiful are the most dangerous I suppose.
That rule can sometimes readily apply to people I think
It is a beauty to be caution around.
It is indeed, Jenna, but what a pretty face this purveyor of death displays.
That is one gorgeous looking flower
It sure is Thomas, thanks for commenting.
That is a very beautiful flower that I would admire from far because of the poison.
I get your meaning, but it is a pretty poison, is it not? 😉