In appearance it is superficially very similar to Astroloba spiralis, with its sharp, spirally-arranged leaves. However, the perianth of spiralis is both inflated and strongly transversely rugose. A. spirella is also a smaller plant and has leaves that are sometimes striped with longitudinal streaks near the tips.
It can be distinguished from its northern relative, Astroloba pentagona, by its sharply pointed leaves, with properly marginate apices and absence of tubercles or striation.
The leaves get a reddish-brown colour in the sun. The flowers appear from January to April, at the end of the dry summer.
Distribution
It occurs in rocky ridges of shale in the Little Karoo - between Montagu in the west, Barrydale, and Ladismith in the east (where it gradually becomes Astroloba spiralis), and just south of Laingsburg in the north (where it grades into Astroloba pentagona).[4]
↑Molteno S., Smith G.F. (2019) "The taxonomy and identity of Astroloba spirella (Haw.) Molteno & Gideon F. Sm (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae), a distinctive species from the western Klein Karoo, Western Cape Province, South Africa," Bradleya 37: 97-111, https://doi.org/10.25223/brad.n37.2019.a32
↑Pandora Roberts Reinecke: Genus Astroloba Uitewaal (Liliaceae). UCT Department of Biological Sciences. 1965.
↑Molteno S., Smith G.F., Figueiredo E. (2018). "A Synopsis of Astroloba Uitewaal (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae): Species, Types, and Infrageneric Classification," Haseltonia 25: 72-83, https://doi.org/10.2985/026.025.0106
