Group 4 Haemodoraceae, Iridaceae, Orchidaceae
Lily-like plants with strap-shaped leaves having parallel veins, the petals and stamens in multiples of three. Separated from Group 3 in that the stamen number is 1 or 3 and the flowers often two-lipped i.e. upper and lower petals. Usually the petals are joined at the base to form a flower tube and in such cases the free parts are technically sepals and not petals.
Includes Haemodoraceae, Iridaceae and Orchidaceae.
Includes Haemodoraceae, Iridaceae and Orchidaceae.
Group 4 - Haemodoraceae family (Bloodroot)
p94 of the Field Guide to Fynbos Dr J. Manning
Wachendorfia
There are 4 species of Wachendorfia of which two occur at Fisherhaven. Commonly known as Butterfly lily or as Rooiknol because of the very red rhizomes (underground stem with scales). Both species here are deciduous perennials with a flowering stem up to 40cm tall. The typical forms are easy to separate but it does become confusing when many plants do not seem to fit either one description or the other.
Wachendorfia multiflora
The developing buds are green because of the green leafy bracts at the bases of the flower stalks. The flowers are quite apart from each other and the individual petals (actually tepals because they are not free from the base of the tube) are relatively narrow and inclined to be more buff-coloured than W. paniculata. The leaves are also generally erect long and straight. This species seems to prefer sandy soils as opposed to W. paniculata preferring shallowly gravelly clayey soils.
Wachendorfia paniculata
The buds are very brown on account of the colour of the bracts and the flowers are yellower than in W. multiflora. The tepals also are broader and create a fuller face to the flower. The leaves are short, broad and sickle-shaped. In both species the individual flowers are short-lived and new ones open each day while the plant is in flower.
Group 4 - Iridaceae family
p142 of the Field Guide to Fynbos Dr J. Manning
This is one of the main groups of the South African flora.
This is one of the main groups of the South African flora.
Moraea
There are about 116 of this fynbos species generally known by the Afrikaans name 'Tulp'. The species is poisonous to stock. Not all are poisonous, however, as some were an important part of the diet of early Cape dwellers.
Moraea flaccida
Flaccida means weak and soft. The flowers are rather so with equal inner and outer petals. Also salmon coloured but with lines in the petals. Identification doubtful.
Moraea fugacissima
Unlike the other species, this is a quite stemless species and when in flower only about 5cm tall. It bears a cluster of flowers and can easily be mistaken for an Oxalis as it flowers early in the winter with those species. It is called the Clockflower because it opens at 10.30 in the morning and closes at 16.00 in the afternoon.
Moraea fugax
The bulb is edible and named 'Soetuintjie'. The species is named for the “fugitive” nature of the flowers in that the flowers do not last long at all. However if one wants to know anything about botanical complexity it is worth reading the piece in “Moraeas of Southern Africa” to see how difficult plant naming and identification can be. The flower is amazingly fragrant to make up for the mental gymnastics it causes.
Moraea gawleri
Moraea gawleri is named after Ker-Gawler, an early English botanist. It is very widespread and variable from Springbok in the north to Humansdorp in the east.
Moraea lugubris
Why Moraea lugubris is called the Mournful Moraea is not clear although the meaning is also taken to be dull to suggest that perhaps the colour can be dull. It is unusual in that the ends of the inner petals are plume-like. In Afrikaans this plant has the name Kersblakertjie.
Moraea miniata
While in some species the inner petals may be modified and unrecognisable as petals, here they are almost the same as the outer petals so that the flower is fairly regularly star-shaped. The colour is usually a deep salmon.
Moraea neglecta
Moraea neglecta is so-called because early botanists did not see that it was distinct from a better known species. It prefers deeper sand. It has only one very long and slender cylindrical leaf. It it interesting in that the prominent yellow splotch on the petals is said to be the guide by which pollinators find the nectar. Individual flowers do not last long and sometimes plants can be seen to be present one day and gone the next. Fortunately the flowers are borne in clusters and there may be several such on the stem. It just that seldom is there more than one flower open on any one plant.
Moraea tricuspidata
Moraea tricuspidata's name name refers to the three cusps to the end of the inner petals that M. unguioculata also has. So identification is not clear cut.
Moraea viscaria
I am not sure of this name and need to check the stickiness of the stems when I find it again. It see ms to prefer sandy areas.
Moraea bellendenii
Moraea bellendenii has long wispy stems to 1m tall and it is the first time I have seen it. Apparently widespread and said to be "common". That is a very misleading word. It may be common to a Moraea expert but countless people may never have seen it even had they looked for it? Named after an English botanist, it is amazingly similar to M. tricuspidata. They have the same distribution range and it really raises the question of how this all could have happened.
Moraea species unidentified
There seem to be other species here but flowering in low numbers and rather uncertainly. Wind handicaps photography so that perhaps they are just not adequately recorded.
Watsonia (Suurkanol)
There are 32 fynbos species they and not easy to separate. They are popular garden plants and hybrids have been selected and even bred for this purpose.
Watsonia laccata
Laccate from lake-coloured. Evergreen plant with short broad leaves with thickened margins bearing a short spike of deep pink flowers in September. The stamens lie on the lower petals. Seldom clumping.
Watsonia marginata
I include this because of the very large single plant at the crescent that was surely introduced.
Watsonia meriana
This seems to be the common species here in Fisherhaven with some dense stands of large evergreen plants. The flowers tend to be a bit sparse so the stands are never truly colourful.
Watsonia stenoshiphon
Stenisophon meaning narrow-tubed one. A deciduous species with slender leaves often less than 100mm wide. The flowers are bright orange and the petals very full and wide compared with W.meriana. Seldom clumping.