1084.000 Dipcadi Medik.

Bulbous, perennial herbs. Leaves basal, linear, margin smooth, undulate, ciliate or papillose. Flowers in a simple raceme, often secund, green or brown. Bracts present. Perianth of 6 segments in 2 whorls of 3; fused below, forming a tube; lobes of 3 outer segments usually spreading; apex hooded and, in some species, abruptly narrowed into a tail-like appendage; inner similar but with no appendage and often connivent with only the tip curved outwards. Stamens 6. Ovary 3-locular. Capsule ovoid. Seeds flat, round, black, shiny, papillose.

Worldwide: c. 30 species in the Mediterranean region, Africa and SW Asia

Malawi: 3 taxa.