Moraea falcifolia

Moraea falcifolia, commonly in Afrikaans the patrysuintjie (partridge nutsedge), a name shared with Gladiolus permeabilis subsp. permeabilis, or pouooguintjie (peacock eye nutsedge), is a cormous perennial. It is a stemless, deciduous herb reaching heights around 5 cm.

The few leaves may be wavy along their margins, in picture only channelled.

The flowers have slightly bigger outer tepals with yellow nectar guides fringed brown, the inner tepals are straighter and unmarked or purple at the base. The flowers are about 25 mm in diameter. The flowers are foetid smelling and last for one day. Flowering happens from late autumn to early spring.

The species distribution is from Namaqualand and Bushmanland in the Northern Cape, through the Breede River Valley and the Little Karoo in the Western Cape to the Eastern Cape as far as Alexandria. The photo was taken near De Rust in the Little Karoo.

The habitat is Nama Karoo, succulent Karoo and dry, stony flats where the soil is clayey. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).