Moraea barkerae Goldblatt

Plants mostly 200-400 mm high, with fibrous collar around base. Corm 12-20 mm diam.; tunics of coarse, grey to light brown fibres, often with thickened vertical members. Stem usually simple or with 1 branch, 2 or 3(4) internodes long, sheathing leaves (25-)35-60 mm long, with dry, brown attenuate apices. Foliage leaf solitary, basal, linear, ± as long as stem or up to 100 mm longer, suberect to falcate, but often trailing distally, narrowly channelled or leaf halves folded together thus blade seeming terete, 1.0-2.5 mm wide opened flat. Rhipidial spathes green with dry, dark brown, attenuate apices; inner spathe 33-70 mm long, outer ± half as long. Flowers long-lived, opening pale pink fading to almost white, outer tepal limbs with white or pink nectar guides at bases edged at both ends with broad purple margins, spreading to slightly reflexed; outer tepals 24-30 x 8-10 mm, lanceolate-attenuate, claws 6-10 mm long, lightly hairy; inner tepals 18-25 x 4-6 mm, ± erect, apex attenuate entire or obscurely 3-lobed. Filaments 10-15 mm long, united in lower 1/2-2/3 in a smooth column; anthers 5 mm long, apiculate, purple, slightly exceeding stigma lobes; pollen red. Ovary ± cylindric, 7-10 mm long, exserted or initially partly included; style branches ± 10 x 2 mm, crests narrowly wedge-shaped to linear, 5-10 mm long. Capsules ovoid-ellipsoid, 13-17 mm long. Seeds angular, prismatic.