Bulbine lagopus is a perennial that grows to 40 cm from an upright rhizome. The leaves are narrow, quill-like and erect, growing in a tuft from the base.

The flowers are produced at the tip of a long, unbranched stalk in a dense raceme. Opening from the lowest ones, each flower lasts for a day, followed by those immediately above. Six tepals surround the fluffy stamens.

The plant is found in the Western Cape and Namaqualand, spreading eastwards across the Karoo into the Free State and Lesotho. It grows on stony slopes (Manning, 2007; Bean and Johns, 2005).