This member of the Amaryllidaceae family was given this name by Friedrich Martin Josef Welwitsch in 1878. It is found in the marsh lands of Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Zimbabwe and  South Africa, growing in sand or other well drained soil with quite some water in the summer and none when dormant. The bulb can grow to sixteen centimetres and the whole plant to 30 centimetres. The flowers are from white to pink.

The genera is from the Greek krinon, meaning 'lily'. The species name for its resemblance with Boophane.