Moraea stricta

Moraea stricta is a small perennial herb growing annually from an underground corm. Coarse fibrous tunics cover the corms. The plant grows a single cylindrical (terete) leaf of up to 60 cm. The leaf is usually not seen when the plant is in bloom during winter and spring, before the summer rain.

The flowers are blue, opening only during the few afternoons of their duration. The outer tepals show yellow nectar guides with dark markings. The bloutulp, as the plant is commonly known in Afrikaans, grows widespread in grassland, often in marshy places across north-eastern South Africa, as well as in several neighbouring countries. The large distribution can be associated with the variability in the plant’s appearance.

This species is not threatened, may in some areas be regarded as a weed.

An earlier name of M. thomsonii for this species is on record (Van Wyk and Malan, 1997; www.zimbabweflora.co.zw).

(See also the Plant Record on this species elsewhere on this Site.)