Ixia paniculata D.Delaroche

Plants 500-650 mm high. Corm 15-20 mm diam., often bearing cormlets on short, thick stolons from base; tunics of fine netted fibres. Stem simple or often with 1 or 2 ascending to horizontal branches, subtended by dry, cuspidate, brown-flecked bracts and prophylls 1.5-3.0 mm long. Leaves 5 or 6 in a loose fan, lower leaves becoming dry and brown at flowering, lanceolate, often slightly twisted in upper half, mostly 4-7 mm wide, reaching to middle or to near top of stem; margins and main vein slightly thickened. Spike crowded, 8-to 16-flowered, branches mostly 3-to 8-flowered; bracts membranous, translucent below but sparsely to closely flecked with rust-brown distally, (7-)9-15 mm long, outer with 1 prominent vein, acute or obscurely 3-lobed with a prominent central tooth, inner 2-veined, ± as long as outer or slightly longer or shorter, 2-veined, forked apically. Flowers pale yellow to creamy beige, lower fifth of tepals sometimes darker, unscented; perianth tube cylindric, 35-65(-75) mm long, widened in upper 3-5 mm; tepals oblong-elliptic, 16-25 mm long, outer ± 6 mm, inner ± 4 mm wide. Filaments 5-6 mm long, included (rarely partly exserted), inserted 8-10 mm below mouth of tube; anthers 4.5-7.0 mm long, dark purple (rarely pale), half to fully included with tips ± 1 mm below mouth of tube, rarely fully exserted. Style dividing opposite lower to upper third of anthers, rarely opposite anther tips or up to 3 mm beyond them, branches ± 2 mm long.