Tritoniopsis caffra (N.E.Br.) Goldblatt & J.C.Manning

Plants 250-700 mm high. Corm 20-40 mm diam.; tunics of soft to moderately coarse fibres, sometimes papery, with short or long collar. Stem unbranched or with 1 or 2 short ascending branches, 2-4 mm diam. Basal leaves 3 to 6, green at flowering, reaching ± to base of spike, blades linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, 150-500 x 4-10 mm, acuminate or often attenuate, narrowed below and subpetiolate, with 2 or 3(4) veins; cauline leaves 2 to 4, lower 1 or 2 like basal but smaller, upper 1 or 2, subulate, 25-30 mm long. Spike moderately densely ± 7-to 25-flowered, 70-300 mm long, 2-ranked; bracts flushed red or purplish, softly leathery, lanceolate, outer 12-20 mm long, acute or acuminate, inner slightly longer. Flowers bright or dark red, with or without small black or purple marks in sinuses between lower 3 tepals, unscented; perianth tube dimorphic, sharply bent, 20-30 mm long, slender in lower 8-15 mm, widening at bend into cylindric upper part ± 12-15 mm long; tepals unequal, arising very obliquely, lower lateral tepals joined to upper laterals for 2-4 mm and the upper laterals joined to dorsal for an additional 6-8 mm, dorsal tepal largest, horizontal, oblanceolate-spathulate, clawed in lower half, 26-33 x 6-9 mm, obtuse, lower tepals spreading, later reflexed, elliptic to oblong, shortly clawed, upper lateral tepals and lower median tepal smallest, 10-13 x 4-6 mm, lower lateral tepals, 12-16 x 5-7 mm. Filaments arcuate, later recurved, 33-38 mm long; anthers 6-8 mm long, yellow flushed red, obtuse, almost medifixed. Style 45-60 mm long, dividing opposite upper half of anthers, branches 2.5-4.0 mm long, sometimes bifid. Capsules elliptic to oblong, slightly inflated, (12-)15-30(-40) x 10-15 mm, pale creamy flushed pink with darker impressed-reticulate sculpturing. Seeds up to 5 mm long, winged on angles.