The Brunsvigia orientalis  (Candelabra flower)  are starting to bloom at Rondevlei; with several plants pushing up in various stages. These plants belong to the Amaryllidacae family and produce flowers before they have any leaves which only come later when winter rains arrive. These flowers are a sure sign of the onset of autumn.

This flowering strategy is an advantage to them as they flower at the end of the dry summer and have pollinators at their beck and call, not competing with many other plant species. The other advantage is that they drop their seeds as winter is starting and they do not have to wait out the long dry summer with their seeds lying around. Once the seeds have formed the stalk breaks off and distributes its seeds as it rolls across the landscape.

Of course like anything in nature there is a disadvantage and this is that it takes some 15 years of growth and the storage of food before the plant can produce its first flowers. The entire plant is poisonous and heavily exploited as a medicinal plant; as a result there are only a handful of plants remaining on the Cape Flats.