Romulea hirta

Romulea hirta, the hairy froetang is a stemless, perennial geophyte growing from a corm that is rounded at its base. The annually deciduous, above-ground parts reach heights from 5 cm to 20 cm.

The pale yellow tepals curve out, tapering to acutely pointed tips. The yellow anthers cohere erectly in the flower centre. White stigma branches sometimes protrude above the anthers. The corollas vary between 2 cm to 2,5 cm in diameter. Flowering happens from before midwinter to early spring.

The distribution of the species, a South African endemic, is in the Northern Cape and the Western Cape, close to the western part of the border between these provinces near Nieuwoudtville, in the Bokkeveld and the Cederberg. The photo was taken at Matjiesfontein near Nieuwoudtville.

The plants grow in succulent Karoo and fynbos on seasonally damp, clayey flats. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).