Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden, South Africa

Common name: Stinkbobbejaantjie

Family: Iridaceae (Iris)

Distribution: Piketberg to Durbanville

Habitat: Alluvial clay soils in renosterveld

IUCN Red list: Not evaluated

National red list: Endangered

Life form: Geophyte (bulb, corm or tuber - seasonally dormant)

Comments: This is an attractive little plant with creamy-yellow, violet-scented flowers which bloom in spring. It is a geophyte which, like most of the Cape bulbs, grows actively in the rainy winter season and goes dormant in the dry summer season. It is endemic to the Cape Floristic Region with a distribution ranging only from Piketberg to Tygerberg.
Babiana odorata is endangered due to the urban expansion of Malmesbury and Darling as well as wheat cultivation in this area which has led to substantial habitat loss, while continued alien invasion leads to further habitat loss. There are only four sites left where it occurs in its natural habitat.