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 roseoalba, synonymously known as Engysiphon roseoalbus, is a South African endemic species found in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces, extending from near Calitzdorp in the Little Karoo east through the Lang Kloof and Baviaanskloof to the Great Winterhoek Mountains near Uitenhage. It occurs mainly on stony sandstone slopes in dry fynbos vegetation, flowering mainly after fire from late winter to early spring. Growing from 15 to 35 cm high, it has narrow sword shaped leaves with thickened margins and midrib and one to three large pale pink flowers suffused with darker pink with reddish purple markings on the tepal bases and pink on the reverse.