| Home | > | List of families | > | Iridaceae | > | Moraea | > | thomsonii |
| Synonyms: | |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Perennial herb, 15-30 cm tall, growing from corms. Leaf single, terete, 1.5 mm wide, up to 60 cm long but normally absent at flowering time. Stem branched, branches held erect, close to the stem. Flowers pale lilac-blue with yellow nectar guides. Outer tepals obovate to lanceolate, 20-24 mm long, more or less spreading. Inner tepals similar but slightly narrower, 16-18 mm long, spreading. |
| Notes: | This species is vegetatively identical to Moraea stricta but the flowers of that species are a deeper violet-lilac colour and have more unequal tepals with nectar guides only on the outer tepals. |
| Derivation of specific name: | thomsonii: after Joseph Thomson (1858-1895), Scottish explorer, geologist and naturalist for the Royal Geographical Society in East Central Africa. |
| Habitat: | In submontane grassland. |
| Altitude range: | |
| Flowering time: | Aug - Nov |
| Worldwide distribution: | Southern Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mpumalanga, South Africa. |
| Malawi distribution: | C |
| Growth form(s): | |
| Endemic status: | |
| Red data list status: | |
| Insects associated with this species: | |
| Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
| Content last updated: | Saturday 30 July 2016 |
| Literature: |
Goldblatt, P. (1993). Iridaceae Flora Zambesiaca 12(4) Pages 17 - 18. Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 92. Moriarty, A. (1975). Wild Flowers of Malawi Purnell & sons Cape Town. Pages 9 - 10. (Includes a picture). Strugnell, A.M. (2006). A Checklist of the Spermatophytes of Mount Mulanje, Malawi Scripta Botanica Belgica 34 National Botanic Garden of Belgium Page 111. Wursten, B., Timberlake, J. & Darbyshire, I. (2017). The Chimanimani Mountains: an updated checklist. Kirkia 19(1) Page 83. |
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