This genus was first described from material sent by Tulbagh in 1769. The genus Tulbaghia consists of 21 species found in Africa, mostly in southern Africa. They are characterised by the strong onion or garlic smell given off by their leaves and flower stems when bruised or cut. The genus is very closely related to Allium, and thus a member of the Alliaceae family. The genus Tulbaghia was named by Linnaeus after Ryk or Rijk Tulbagh, Governor of the Cape Colony 1751-71. He was born in Holland in 1699, enlisted with the Dutch East India Company and sailed to South Africa in 1716 and died in Cape Town in 1771. He corresponded with Linnaeus over a long period, and sent him more than 200 plant specimens.

Tulbaghia violaceae is a fast-growing, bulbous plant that reaches a height of 50cm. The leaves are long, narrow, strap-like, and slightly fleshy and smell strongly of garlic when bruised. They grow from fat, tuberous roots which spread to form clumps of plants. The pinkish mauve, tubular flowers, clustered into umbels of up to twenty flowers, are held above the leaves on a tall flower stalk, and appear over a long period in summer (January to April).