any of several bulbous plants of the genus Veltheimia, esp. V. viridifolia, native to southern Africa, having glossy, strap-shaped leaves and a long cluster of tubular pinkish flowers.
Origin: < NL (1769), after August Ferdinand, Graf von Veltheim (1741–1801), German patron of botany; see -ia
[vel-thee-mee-uh] 
