Name: from the Greek rhodo, meaning rose or red; hypo, meaning below; and oxy, meaning pointed.
English: Red star; Rosy posy.
Afrikaans: Rooisterretjie.
Genus: 6 species.
Region: South Africa.
Content: calcium oxalate; flavonol; starch.
Culture: literature, movie Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov, S. Kubrik.
Botany: herbaceous, tuft-forming, cormous, perennial, 10 cm high and wide; leaves very hairy, dull grey-green, lance-shaped, grasslike, keeled, folded; flowers solitary, 6-petalled, star-shaped, upturned, white, pale pink to deep pink, red, blooms throughout summer; tepals; habitat damp summer climates of southern Africa, they seldom thrive in climates; need lime-free soil, full sun, peaty pockets, rock gardens; high altitude; petioles sharp bent, closes the mouth of the tube, characteristically blind or closed look; fruit a capsule; tiny black seeds, scattered by wind or animals.