Rhizomatous geophyte, up to 1.3m with slender stems. Leaves sword-shaped and in tight fans. Flowers are paired and aggregated into racemes, tubular, up to 85mm long, the tepals remaining closed; each flower has pubescent outer tepals, dark green to blackish below and yellow above.

This species is seriously threatened by coastal development.

Common name Bokmakierie is an apt name for this species, the black and yellow flowers suggestive of the bright black and yellow tail feathers of the Bush Shrike or Bokmakierie.

The other common name Waaiertjie refers to the resemblance of the leafy branch to a fan, (Afrikaans: waaiertjie = little fan).

After: Nicholaas Witsen (1641-1717), Dutch patron of botany.