Four new species of iridaceae from the Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract

Four new species of Iridaceae from the Western Cape, South Africa are described. All four are evidently range-restricted. Hesperantha novacampestris is one of very few species of Iridaceae recorded from the Nuweveldberge escarpment inland of Beaufort-West. It is a highly distinctive species in sect. Concentricae characterized by an almost acaulescent habit, linear leaves twisted or coiled at the tips, and 1-flowered spikes of diurnal, shallowly cup-shaped white flowers with almost obsolete tube. Ixia ebrahimii from the upper Breede River Valley is distinguished from other members of sect. Hyalis by pink flowers with a short perianth tube combined with very unusual long-exserted, unilateral stamens. Moraea anastasia is a surprising discovery from the lower slopes near Stellenbosch that appeared after the felling of a pine plantation. A member of sect. Vieusseuxia, it appears to be allied to M. bellendenii and M. tricuspidata but is well-separated from them by the shorter outer tepal claws and much wider limbs with bluish black marking at the base. Moraea goldblattiana from the southern Knersvlakte between Vanrhynsdorp and Vredendal is vegetatively and florally similar to the Richtersveld endemic M. flexicaulis in sect. Flexuosae but is readily distinguished by its larger size, spathulate tepals with suborbicular limbs, and much longer ovary developing into a fusiform, short-beaked capsule.