Moraea villosa subsp. elandsmontana

This yellow flowered variety of Moraea villosa subsp. elandsmontana was photographed at the (nearly) eponymous site, the Elandsberg Private Nature Reserve. Villosa means hairy or shaggy. This name was given due to the hairiness of the narrow leaf (only one grows on each plant) and the hairy flower stem to which the leaf is attached.

These plants flower during late winter and early spring. The subspecies was only discovered in 1979 by the botanist artist Fay Anderson.

The habitat of M. villosa subsp. elandsmontana has been largely destroyed by farming and human settlement. Both subspecies of M. villosa are classified as vulnerable. Only one known renosterveld site remains where the flower still blooms in the wild.

This Swartland population, assiduously protected in the Elandsberg Private Nature Reserve, is too small for sustaining the pollinator beetles, causing plant numbers to keep dwindling (www.plantzafrica.com).