146 



52. IRIDACE.E. 



Ker. 

 bright 



S. tricolor 1 



S. btdbifcrn 2 



Perianth 3-4 cm. 

 yellow at ba.se, 



Garden plant, wild along creeks.- July-Sept.— -South 

 Africa. 



3. Sparaxis, Tver. 



(Greek sparasso, T tear; alluding to the torn spathes.) 



Perianth funnel-shaped with a straight tube and oblong 

 subequal segments; anthers erect; style-branches oblanceo- 

 late, undvided ; spathe-valTes membranous, long and torn 

 at the summit. Flowers 1 in each spathe. arranged in 

 a few-flowered terminal spike ; leaves narrow-sAVordshaped, 

 equitant ; stems simple or branched, exceeding the leaves; 

 plants small ; corm ovoid or globular, with a fibrous tunic. 



Flowers large, variously colourecl, with a 



bright-yellow throat 



Flowers smaller, without a distinctive 



colour in the throat 



1. Spara,xis tricolor, 



(I3-IJ in.) long; segments 

 red, white or rich purple above 

 spathe-valves streaked with red- 

 dish-brown, the outer one 3- 

 toothed. 



(iarden plant, common in 

 grassland and scrub. — Sept. -Oct. 

 -South Africa. 



2. S. bulbifera, Ker. Stem 

 bearing one or two leaves with 

 bulbils in the axils; flowers 2, 

 sometimes 1 ; perianth about 3 

 cm. long, violet outside, whitish 

 inside (or sometimes yelloAv in 

 Cape specimens) ; spathe as in 

 the preceding, but shorter. 



Same localities; not so com- 

 mon. Sept. -Oct. -South Africa. 



4. RoMULEA, Maratti. 



(After Romulus, legendary foun- 



Sparaxis tricolor. 



der of Rome ; several species 

 grow in the Roman States.) 

 Perianth funnel-shaped, with a short tube and sub- 

 equal segments; stamens enclosed in the perianth, filaments 

 short, hairy; anthers erect; style slender, witli 3 bifid 

 branches ; capsule membranous, oblong. FloAvers solitary 

 in a terminal spathe; leaves radical, narrow-linear, much 

 longer than the peduncles; corm ovoid, covered by a glossy, 

 brown tunic. 



Flowers comparatively large, bright purp- 

 lish, twice as long as the spathe If. BulhncocUnm 1 



Flowers small, pale vioh't, slightly exceed- 

 ing the spathe B. Colnmna 2 



