Description
This deciduous bulb is frost resistant, water wise and grows in full sun in our grasslands. The yellow flowers open in Spring-Summer and they attract butterflies and bees. This popular medicinal plant is used for many ailments but is threatened by harvesting. The tuberous rootstock is traditionally used. Weak infusions and decoctions of the corm are used as a strengthening tonic and during convalescence, against tuberculosis and cancer. It is also used for prostate hypertrophy, urinary tract infections, testicular tumors, as a laxative, childbirth and to expel intestinal worms. Anxiety, palpitations, depression and rheumatoid arthritis are further ailments treated with the plant. The leaves are used to make rope. The leaves and tuber are used as a dye and give a black colour, which is used to blacken floors. The star flower is a very attractive, hardy garden plant. It is drought-tolerant, frost-resistant, very easy to grow and an asset to any garden. It grows well in full sun in well-drained soil. Hypoxis hemerocallidea flowers freely throughout summer. The yellow star-like flowers are eye-catching in any setting. It is excellent for a rockery or as a border to flower beds, but is also suitable for container planting. When not in flower, the leaves are attractive and striking with their geometric triangular arrangement. The bulbs are dormant in winter and need to be kept dry. The leaves die down after the summer, but appear in later winter, often before the summer rains. The name is derived from the Greek hypo = beneath, less than; oxys- sharp pointed, sour referring to the leaves which are acid.
