Moraea brevituba (Goldblatt) Goldblatt

Plants 400-550 mm high. Corm 12-18 mm diam. or larger if surrounded by accumulated tunic layers; tunics of coarse, dark brown to blackish fibres. Stem simple or with 2 or 3 diverging secondary branches from near base, straight or slightly flexuose, bearing several sessile lateral rhipidia at upper nodes partly enclosed by slightly shorter sheathing leaves mostly 18-25 mm long. Foliage leaves 2 to 4, basal or inserted low on stem, linear, ascending, longer than stem and trailing distally, channelled with margins incurved. Rhipidial spathes usually partly to entirely dry and pale at flowering, attenuate, inner (20-)25-30 mm long, outer half to 2/3 as long, exserted from subtending sheathing leaf. Flowers fugaceous, rotate, upright to nodding, pale yellow, evidently odourless; tepals united below in a short closed tube 1-2 mm long, tepals 16-19 x 5-8 mm long, claws ± 1 mm long, suberect, clasping bases of filament column, limbs extended horizontally, narrowly ovate, inner slightly smaller than outer. Filaments 3-4 mm long, united below for ± 1 mm; anthers initially 7-8 mm long, yellow; pollen yellow. Ovary included, cylindric, often curved outward distally, 8-11 mm long, upper 1 mm narrow and sterile, usually half exserted; pedicel (4-)7-10 mm long; style branches divided to base into filiform, horizontal arms ± 6 mm long. Capsules included, ellipsoid, shortly beaked, ± 15 mm long including beak ± 2 mm long. Seeds evidently angular, dark brown, ± 2 mm long.