Home Iridaceae of sub-Saharan Africa
Genera
Species
Iridaceae in sub-Saharan Africa
Photo Gallery
Geographic Search
References
Search Builder
About this project
!Moraea longifolia (Jacq.) Pers. Search in The Plant ListSearch in IPNISearch in Australian Plant Name IndexSearch in NYBG Virtual HerbariumSearch in Muséum national d'Histoire naturelleSearch in Type Specimen Register of the U.S. National HerbariumSearch in Virtual Herbaria AustriaSearch in JSTOR Plant ScienceSearch in SEINetSearch in African Plants Database at Geneva Botanical GardenAfrican Plants, Senckenberg Photo GallerySearch in Flora do Brasil 2020Search in Reflora - Virtual HerbariumSearch in Living Collections Decrease font Increase font Restore font
 

Published In: Synopsis Plantarum 1: 49. 1805. (Syn. Pl.) Name publication detailView in BotanicusView in Biodiversity Heritage Library
 

Project Name Data (Last Modified On 7/1/2016)
Acceptance : Accepted
Taxon Profile     (Last Modified On 7/5/2016)
Description: Plants 600–2000 mm high. Corm 15–20 mm diam.; tunics of fine, light brown fibres. Stem ± straight, simple or 1–3-branched from lower nodes, lateral rhipidia sessile, each subtended by sheathing leaf often entirely concealing rhipidia. Foliage leaves 3 or 4(5), linear, ascending below, bent and trailing distally, lowermost longest, 250–600 mm long, progressively shorter above, 6–12(–20) mm wide, ± flat or channeled. Rhipidial spathes attenuate, dry at tips, inner 35–5.5(–7.5) mm long, outer slightly shorter. Flowers fugaceous, stellate, pale yellow, usually only outer tepal limbs with inconspicuous, slightly darker yellow nectar guides, odourless or faintly scented; tepals with claws ± 2 mm long clasping filament column, limbs spreading, outer with limbs 19–27 × 8–11 mm, inner 16–23 × 6–9 mm. Filaments 4–6 mm long, united in lower 2–3 mm; anthers 5–6 mm long before anthesis, yellow; pollen yellow. Ovary 8–12 mm long, exserted, style branches divided to base in filiform, horizontally extended arms 4–6 mm long. Capsules obovoid-clavate, truncate, 12–16(–23) mm long, exserted, splitting for 1/2 to 3/4 their length. Seeds angular, 2.0–2.3 mm long. Chromosome number 2n = 24. Flowering time: mid October and November; opening ± 14:00–14:45, collapsing after 18:00.
Country: South Africa
South African Province: Western Cape
Distribution and ecology: restricted to the Cape Peninsula and nearby; in relatively moist situations, along streams and in marshes or shady places close to bush or forest.
Diagnosis: particularly tall for sect. Hexaglottis, and standing up to 2 m high, M. longifolia is distinguished by the pale yellow flowers with faint nectar guides without dark spotting, comparatively short style branches, 4–6 mm long, and large, obovoid to club-shaped capsules. M. longifolia is tetraploid and known to be self compatible and autogamous, whereas the other species of the section (not M. brevituba) are diploid are self-incompatible (compatibility relations are not known for M. brevituba). Closely related and similar M. lewisiae, at least in the southwestern Cape where it sometimes is sympatric with H. longifolia, has cylindric-3-lobed capsules, slightly larger deeper yellow flowers with prominently spotted nectar guides, and style branches 6–7 mm long. Also sometimes confused with M. longifolia, M. riparia has smaller capsules and bright yellow, strongly scented flowers, and is self-incompatible.

 


 

Specimens whose coordinates are enclosed in square brackets [ ] have been mapped to a standard reference mark based on political units.
 
 
© 2024 Missouri Botanical Garden - 4344 Shaw Boulevard - Saint Louis, Missouri 63110