I’m busy editing my mansucript (yes, still!) and got to the part where Maddy gives a talk at the terreiro and tells about the blood lily, or scadoxus muliflorus, which (according to my research at Kirstenbosch last year) Zulu warriors traditionally used before battle to make them more potent … I flipped online for a bit of visual stimulation (any excuse at this stage… is it any wonder this is taking me so long?) and came across this pretty little vid.

I’ve often come across the fire or blood lilly on burnt out slopes on the Cape Peninsula, and they always seem so proud and brave, like a sole survivor or pioneer, stark and red against the sand and the stubble. It is always an arresting sight, but this movie is a reminder of how feisty and delicate are often two sides of the same thing ….