Flowers in Israel: Aunt Eliza

Chasmanthe floribunda, Antholyza floribunda, Petamenes floribunda, aunt Eliza, African cornflag, madflower,

Hebrew: כסמנתה רבת-פרחים

Scientific name:   Chasmanthe floribunda (Salisb.) N. E. Br.
Synonym name:   Antholyza floribunda Salisb., Petamenes floribunda (Salisb.) E.Phillips
English name:   Aunt Eliza, African cornflag, madflower
Hebrew name:   כסמנתה רבת-פרחים, כסמנתה פרחונית
Family:   Iridaceae, Iris family, אירוסיים


Life form:   Deciduous geophyte; corm flattened-globose
Stems:   Erect 50-120cm high; usually branched
Leaves:   Lance-shaped, with a prominent main vein; 2.5–3.5 cm wide.
Inflorescence:   Pyramidal two-ranked erect spikes
Flowers:   Bracts (9–)13–15 mm long, green flushed red on margins or entirely. Flowers bright to deep orange with lower half of tube paler or yellow, unscented; floral tube trumpet-shaped, slender and spirally twisted below, abruptly expanded above into a wider, cylindrical upper part slightly pouched at the base and 20–25 mm long; tepals unequal, dorsal largest and spoon-shaped, (21–)24–26 × 6.5–8 mm, upper and lower lateral tepals 12–15 mm long, lower median tepal ± 10 mm long. Stamens 3, arching under dorsal tepal, median stamen slightly longer; anthers and pollen purple.
Fruits / pods:   Capsules flattened-globose, 3-lobed; up to 12 seeds per capsule, globose or somewhat angled by pressure, ± 5 mm in diameter, bright orange, coat hard and shiny.
Flowering Period:   January, February, March
Habitat:   Invading natural habitats
Distribution:   Escaped from gardens and becomes naturalized locally
Chorotype:   South Africa
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Chasmanthe, Greek chasme, “gaping”, and anthos, “flower,” alluding to the shape of the flower.

floribunda, Latin floribundus, profusely flowered.
Antholyza, Greek anthos, “flower”; lyssa “rage,” the opened flower looks like the mouth of an angry animal.
Petamenes, derivation doubtful, perhaps from the Greek petomai, petamai “to fly, fly abroad” or petamenos “tumbler, ropedancer”.

  • The standard author abbreviation Salisb. is used to indicate Richard Anthony Salisbury (1761 – 1829), a British botanist.
  • The standard author abbreviation N.E.Br. is used to indicate Nicholas Edward Brown (1849 – 1934) , an English plant taxonomist and authority on succulents.

Chasmanthe aethiopica grows to 90cm tall and the bright orange flowers are all turned to one side of the flower stem.