Moraea flavescens (Goldblatt) Goldblatt

Plants 120-300 mm high. Corm ± globose, 8-12 mm diam.; tunics of black, wiry fibres. Stem strongly flexed above sheath of foliage leaf, several-branched, sheathing leaves attenuate, 35-55 mm long. Foliage leaf solitary, inserted well above ground, linear, much exceeding stem, erect, trailing distally, channelled, up to 4 mm wide. Rhipidial spathes attenuate, apices dry, brown, inner initially 30-60 mm long, later elongating to enclose developing capsules, outer ± 1/2 as long. Flowers fugaceous, pale yellow, tepal limbs with deep yellow nectar guides at bases edged grey-green, spreading, claws diverging, forming an open cup, ± 8 mm wide at mouth, including most of filament column; outer tepals obovate, 16-24 x 7-9 mm, often emarginate, claws 5-6 mm long, inner tepals 17-19 x 5-7 mm. Filaments united in a column ± 5 mm long, sometimes free in upper 0.5-2.0 mm, minutely papillate; anthers 3-4 mm long, diverging, yellow; pollen yellow. Ovary ± cylindric, 7-12 mm long, enclosed in spathes; style branches ± 2 mm long, flat, deeply bilobed, shorter than anthers, lobes extending between anthers. Capsules ellipsoid to cylindric, 8-16 mm long, enclosed until maturity. Seeds angular-prismatic.