Hesperantha

Hesperantha is a genus of deciduous, cormous and few about rhizomatous plants in the Iridaceae family. Most Hesperantha plants are short, only reaching 15 cm to 20 cm in height, or even less.

The corms are variously shaped, which helps in identifying the species, although people don’t often have to copy baboons and dig them up. The corms are globose to ovoid or bell-shaped with flat bases, sometimes with basal ridges above the roots. The tunics are woody, in a few cases papery.

The simple or branched, cylindrical stems are sometimes borne underground.

The leaves vary in number, two or three being cataphylls. The blades are flat and narrowly sword-shaped or cylindrical, sometimes hairy or with thickened margins or midribs.

The inflorescence is a spirally arranged spike, the number of flowers variable, while in a few species the flowers are solitary. The two green bracts below each flower are soft, the inner one smaller and notched at its tip.

Most flowers are radially symmetrical or actinomorphic and some nod. The perianth tubes are cylindrical and vary in length. The tepals are nearly equal, spreading into a salver-shape and some recurve. Most flower colours are white or pink but yellow, blue, violet and red ones also occur.

Some flowers are fragrant, mostly in the evening. Nectar is produced. The white-flowered species usually open only in the evening, adapted to moth pollination. These ones are often called aandblommetjies (little evening flowers) in Afrikaans. The coloured species open during the day and are usually unscented.

The three stamens sometimes have very short filaments, the anthers facing inwards, flexed down or positioned horizontally. In a few species the anthers are included in the perianth tube. The styles are thread-like, as are their three long, divergent branches, a distinctive characteristic of the genus.

The fruit capsules are membranous and globose, oblong or cylindrical. The seeds are globose or angular, sometimes slightly winged, their surfaces smooth or rough.

There are about 75 Hesperantha species. All grow in Africa, 37 of which in the summer rainfall region of southern Africa, notably the Drakensberg; 42 in the winter rainfall region, notably the fynbos.

The generic name, Hesperantha, is derived from the Greek words hesperos meaning evening and anthos meaning flower, referring to the evening flowering species.

The genus is related to Geissorhiza that grows short style branches.

The plant in picture is Hesperantha falcata (Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2007; http://pza.sanbi.org; https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org).