Moraea patens (Goldblatt) Goldblatt

Plants 250-450 mm high. Corm globose, ± 10 mm diam.; tunics of wiry, black fibres. Stem usually many-branched, flexed outward above foliage leaf sheath and above sheathing leaves, these attenuate, 30-40 mm long. Foliage leaf solitary (rarely 2), inserted well above ground, linear, channelled, much exceeding stem, 3-5 mm wide. Rhipidial spathes attenuate, apices dry, brown, inner initially 40-60 mm long, elongating as capsules develop, inner ± half as long. Flowers fugaceous, bright yellow or orange, tepals limbs with dark yellow nectar guides at bases, laxly spreading, widely diverging, forming a wide, shallow cup including filaments; outer tepals pandurate, 25-27 x 9 mm, claw ± 9 mm long, inner tepals 20-24 x 7-8 mm. Filaments united in a cylindric column 7-8 mm long, papillate in lower half; anthers ± 4 mm long, diverging, yellow; pollen yellow. Ovary 9-10 mm long, exserted; style branches 3-4 mm long, ± as wide as anthers, reaching or slightly exceeding anther tips, crests erect, short (obscure in dry material). Capsules usually exserted or partly included, 12-15 mm long.