Nivenia stokoei, commonly known as blue stars, is a small shrub of up to 1,5 m. It grows taller in sheltered areas, shorter where more exposed. The grey-green leaves are sword-like and arranged in several fan-like structures up the woody stems. Clusters of widely open six-petalled blue flowers on long narrow perianth tubes appear from January to March. They are pollinated by long-tongued bees and certain flies.

The natural habitat of this popular species is small, lying in sandstone ridges of the Betty’s Bay and Kleinmond area. The plant is endemic to the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve. This plant was photographed in the Harold Porter National Botanical Garden in October, long before the normal blooming season.

N. stokoei plants may last for a long time in undisturbed fynbos. Some of the bigger specimens have been estimated to be around 150 years old (Bean and Johns, 2005; www.plantzafrica.com and Manning, 2007).