Hesperantha is a cormous genus in the Iridaceae family with 79 species. Four are found in tropical Africa, 37 in summer-rainfall southern Africa, and 42 in winter-rainfall southern Africa. Many of the former are found in the eastern southern African Drakensberg in Kwa Zulu-Natal. Most plants are short, 15 to 20 cm. tall or less. A number of them open late in the afternoon or early evening and those are often very fragrant.

Hesperantha humilis is a short plant with deep pink to reddish flowers that open in the day when the temperatures are warm enough. It flowers winter to spring and is found growing on sandstone and shale slopes, mainly in renosterved.