[1] Wachendorfia is a genus of perennial herbaceous plants of 10–250 cm (0.33–8.20 ft) high when flowering, which emerge from a fleshy, bright red-coloured, rounded, egg-shaped to cylindrical underground rootstock.

The leaves together form a fan-like structure, are 0.1–0.9 m (0.33–2.95 ft) long, erect or spreading, simple and entire, line- to lance-shaped, sometimes sickle-shaped, have a firm texture, are flattened sideways as to produce left and right surfaces, not upper and lower surfaces and are always pleated along their length.

The lower three tepals are free, and the upper three are united at their base where they are adorned with small dark and light markings that apparently function as a nectar guide.

The style is thread-shaped, bent left or right consistently in any one plant and carries a minute head-like stigma.

The seed is oval to globular, approximately 2 mm (0.079 in) in diameter, densely covered in hair, and brown in colour, at least in W. paniculata, the only species for which it has been recorded.

[1] W. thyrsiflora is a large to very large, 0.6–2 m (2.0–6.6 ft) high, evergreen herb with golden yellow flowers that have diverging stamens and style of at least two thirds as long as the tepals, in a dense spiky inflorescence high above the leaves, and dry, brownish and membranous bracts recurved at the tip, with leaves mostly much wider than 1.5 cm (0.59 in).

W. paniculata is a small to large, 0.1–0.9 m (0.33–2.95 ft), deciduous herb with apricot, yellow or orange flowers that have diverging stamens and style of at least two thirds as long as the tepals that are 13–31 mm (0.51–1.22 in) long and 4–16 mm (0.16–0.63 in) wide, in a lax to dense panicle with brown, dry and membranous bracts that recurve at the tip with age, with leaves narrower than 2 cm (0.79 in) and shorter than the inflorescence, and that may grow in dry and wetter circumstances.

W. brachyandra has apricot to pale yellow flowers in a lax panicle that is longer than the leaves, clustered stamens, which are, like the style, less than half the length of the tepals.

W. multiflora is a small plant of up to 25 cm (9.8 in) high, with leaves that are usually longer than the very short and dense inflorescence, with green, erect bracts, dull yellow, later purplish brown flowers with narrow tepals, 15–25 mm (0.59–0.98 in) long and 3–6 mm (0.12–0.24 in) wide.

[1] The first description of a species of butterfly-lily was already published in 1700 by the English botanist Leonard Plukenet in his book Almagesti botanici mantissa.

Thunberg distinguished W. hirsuta and W. tenella, both in his 1811 book Flora Capensis - sistens plantas promontorii Bonæ Spei Africes - secundum systema sexuale emendatum.

In their 1992 revision of the genus Wachendorfia, Nick Helme and Hans Peter Linder conclude that four species can be distinguished: W. thyrsiflora, W. paniculata, W. brachyandra and W.

[1] The genus Wachendorfia is named in honor of Evert Jacob van Wachendorff, professor of botany and chemistry and later rector at the University of Utrecht in the 18th century.

[4] Comparison of homologous DNA has increased the insight in the phylogenetic relationships between the genera in the Haemodoroideae subfamily, and between the species of Wachendorfia.

[1] Slightly frost hardy, Wachendorfias thrive outdoors in warm, near frost-free environments as an ornamental plant.