Good rains in Namibia have led to a spectacular bloom of lilies on the Sandhof Farm, about 40km outside the town of Maltahohe in southern Namibia.
The funnel-shaped flowers (Crinum Paludosum) commonly known as bushveld vlei lilies bloom in marshy areas and only last for six or seven days before they change colour from pink to white, and then wither.
The profusion of flowers pictured below started to bloom in a clay pan on Sandhof Farm a few weeks ago drawing about 2,000 visitors, according to Mark Morgan, the owner of the farm. This is the first time since the drought that they have flowered. The bulbs only bloom after there has been enough rain, about 30cm of water on the clay pan.
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Morgan said, ‘the flowers were exceptionally beautiful this year because the pan where the flowers grow had no grass,’ according to Xinhua News Agency.
‘Because of the drought, the field was clear and there were no shrubs. Thus the flowers bloomed to their full glory,’ he said.
‘We received visitors from Germany, South Africa, Belgium and the United Kingdom. We opened for the whole week from sunrise to sunset. About two-thirds of the visitors were tourists while the remaining third were locals.’
These lilies can also be found in Botswana and according to the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) ‘in marshy places from northern KwaZulu-Natal to Limpopo’ in South Africa.
Image credit: Tom T Dun/ Facebook
