Moraea modesta

Moraea modesta, sometimes commonly called the shy uintjie, is a cormous perennial, a small plant reaching about 20 cm in height. The specific name, modesta, is derived from the Latin word modestus meaning moderate, referring to the small plant size. The corm is about 1 cm in diameter.

One thin, cylindrical leaf is grown annually after the late spring or summer flower stem. The leaf may persist, dry with the next year's blooming, if fire doesn't get it. 

The three outer tepals dominate the floral appearance, everything else in the flower being rather small. The outer tepals can be 27 mm long. These tepals are nearly white with deep yellow to orange-brown nectar guides at the tepal bases. Their shape is ovate with entire, but sometimes irregularly wavy or scalloped margins. 

The inner tepals, also growing in a whorl of three, are tiny and erect. They may be either dark purple in colour as in this flower, or whitish, similar to the style crests. Inner tepal length is about 6 mm. Similar flower structures occur in other Moraea species, notably M. dracomontana, M. brevistyla and M. ciliata.

The species distribution is inland in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the eastern Free State, also in Lesotho. 

The habitat is montane grassland of the Drakensberg at elevations from 1525 m to 3000 m. The habitat population is of least concern early in the twenty first century.

Parts of the plant may be toxic to humans. Many of the Moraea species are toxic to livestock, the notorious tulpe (tulips) in Afrikaans that stock farmers worry about (Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist; iSpot; http://redlist.sanbi.org).