Geissorhiza is a large genus of around 84 perennial species, of small to medium corm bearing plants in the Iridaceae family found in the winter rainfall region of the south and west coasts of southern Africa. Many of them make very handsome container plants and benefit from extra water during growth. The name Geissorhiza is derived from the Greek words geisson and rhiza which mean tile and root respectively. This is in reference to a tunic which covers the corms like a roof tile. The bulb-like structure is used as a storage organ during the dormant period. It is closely related to the genus Hesperantha, the main difference being that most Hesperantha are night bloomers.

Geissorhiza namaquensis, commonly known as Namaqua Satin, is a range-restricted South African endemic species found in the Northern Cape province extending from the southern Richtersveld to the Spektakel mountains west of Springbok and on the escarpment west of Kamieskroon in central Namaqualand. It occurs in fynbos mountain renosterveld, on granitic soil at the Kamiesberg but elsewhere is restricted to shale and quartzite outcrops of the Nama System.