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Published In: Annals of Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens 19: 83–84, p. 11. 1989. (Ann. Kirstenbosch Bot. Gard.) Name publication detail
 

Project Name Data (Last Modified On 6/6/2016)
Acceptance : Accepted
Taxon Profile     (Last Modified On 8/5/2016)
Description: Plants 300–450 mm high, solitary. Corm sub-globose, 25–40 mm diam.; tunics coarsely netted, extending into a fibrous collar. Stem erect, simple. Leaves 3 or 4, ± basal or uppermost sub-basal, reaching to base of spike or more, linear to narrowly lanceolate, 4–7 mm wide, channelled or sigmoid in section with margins curved up, midrib and margins moderately thickened and hyaline; bract-like cauline leaves 2 or 3, large. Spike densely 10 to 20(30)-flowered, internodes 4–8 mm long; bracts dry and cinnamon brown, often greenish brown, with evident pale netted veins, 16–20(–25) mm long, clasping stem in lower 1/3–1/2, strongly overlapping, acute to attenuate, inner shorter, concealed, forked apically for up to 2 mm. Flowers zygomorphic, weakly bilabiate, pink to purple with paler throat, often with darker median streak in basal 1/2 of tepals; perianth tube with lower part 12–18 mm long, upper part ascending and funnel-shaped, ± 15 mm long, 8 mm diam. at mouth; tepals lanceolate, 20–25 × 9–13mm, upper 3 spreading and lower 3 nearly horizontal. Filaments unilateral and arcuate, 14–20 mm long, reaching mouth of tube; anthers 8–11mm long, whitish to mauve or violet. Style arching over stamens, dividing near anther apices, branches 5–6 mm long. Capsules narrowly ovoid, ± 10 mm long. Seeds unknown. Flowering time: November to December (January).
Country: South Africa
South African Province: KwaZulu-Natal
Distribution and ecology: a narrow endemic of central KwaZulu-Natal, on the Noodsberg and Karkloof, in open grassland.
Diagnosis: distinguished from other species with dense spikes of moderate-sized, pink, funnel-shaped flowers and coarse, dry, brown, overlapping bracts by its comparatively short, erect stem, 300–450 mm tall, and narrow leaves, 4–7 mm wide, with the margins curved inward so that the leaves are markedly channelled or sometimes sigmoid in section. Watsonia  lepida, also a solitary-growing species, has flat leaves 5–15 mm wide, the lowermost dry and withered at flowering, and uniformly dark brown bracts.

 
 


 

Specimens whose coordinates are enclosed in square brackets [ ] have been mapped to a standard reference mark based on political units.
 
 
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