Hesperantha bulbifera Baker

Species

Angiosperms > Asparagales > Iridaceae > Hesperantha

Characteristics

Plants 200-300 mm high. Corm globose with flattened oblique base, 8-10 mm diam.; tunics woody, imbricate, splitting from base into sections. Stem often inclined to trailing, simple or branched from axil of cauline leaf, bearing cormlets in some or all leaf axils. Leaves 3 to 5, lower 2 or 3 basal, with well-developed blades ± reaching spike apex, plane, sword-shaped to falcate, 3-7 mm wide, upper leaves cauline, sheathing or free and unifacial distally, soft-textured, margins and main vein hardly thickened. Spike flexuose, 2-to 6-flowered; bracts mostly 15-25(-30) mm long, green with transparent margins. Flowers evidently crepuscular, nodding to pendent, white, sweetly scented; perianth tube 9-15 mm long, cylindric, curved in upper half; tepals ovoid to elliptic, 16-20 x 5-8 mm, spreading to slightly reflexed. Filaments ± horizontal, 6-7 mm long; anthers ± 8 mm long, white; pollen white. Style branches 12-14 mm long, ± pendent, reaching close to anther tips. Capsules ± ovoid-oblong, 7-8 mm long. Seeds unknown.
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Perennial herb, geophytes, 200-300 mm high; corm globose, base oblique, with small downward projections, tunics woody, notched below into segments; stem simple or 1-branched, bearing bulbils in leaf axils. Leaves 3-5, linear to slightly falcate. Bracts herbaceous, margins hyaline, acute. Inflorescence a 2-6-flowered spike, slightly flexuose; perianth tube 9-15 mm long, recurving; tepals subequal, outspread when open, elliptic, obtuse. Stamens: filaments 6-7 mm long; anthers articulated, usually pendent. Ovary 3-4 mm long; style branches pendent. Flowering time May-Oct. Capsule ovoid.
Cormous herb. Stems trailing, up to 300 mm long. Plants bearing a cormlet in axil of 1 to several stem nodes. Perianth tube 9-15 mm long, recurved, shorter than bracts and emerging between them. Flowers pale creamy white, tinged with lilac or pink.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.2 - 0.3
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Light -
Soil humidity 4-8
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) -

Usage

Uses -
Edible -
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Distribution

Hesperantha bulbifera world distribution map, present in South Africa

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:438110-1
WFO ID wfo-0000782752
COL ID 3L47W
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Hesperantha bulbifera