Xenoscapa fistulosa

Xenoscapa fistulosa, commonly fairy trumpets and previously scientifically Anomatheca fistulosa, is a tiny member of the Iridaceae family, a perennial that grows from a globose corm, annually reaching heights from 3 cm to 20 cm. The corm tunic consists of fine fibres and it roots from below.

The erect stem varies in length and often has a few short branches. The generic name, Xenoscapa, is derived from the Greek words xenos meaning strange and scapa meaning flowering stem, referring to this stem.

The small, scented, white flowers grow solitary from stem-tips. There are two short, leathery bracts below the tepals, sometimes of equal length and the inner one often notched at its tip.

The perianth tube is cylindrical and from 15 mm to 30 mm long. The dorsal tepal is wider than the others, boat-shaped, erect and hooding the exserted dark anthers and short-branched style. The other five oblanceolate tepals spread their rounded tips.

The flowers remain open at night. Flowering happens from late winter to after midspring.

The species distribution is in the west of the Northern Cape, in Namaqualand, continuing into the Western Cape, as far east as the Little Karoo, also in Namibia. The photo was taken at Minwater near Oudtshoorn.

The habitat is seasonally damp, clayey and granitic soils on south-facing, rocky slopes, often in shade. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; Wikipedia; http://redlist.sanbi.org).