Romulea vinacea M.P. de Vos

Manning, John C. & Goldblatt, Peter, 2001, the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra including new species, biological notes, and a new infrageneric classification, Adansonia (3) 23 (1), pp. 59-108 : 77

9. Romulea vinacea M.P. de Vos

J. S. African Bot., Suppl. 9: 69 (1972); Fl. S. Africa 7(2), fasc. 2: 20 (1983). — Type: Lewis 2120, South Africa, Western Cape, Pakhuis Pass (holo-, SAM!; iso-, PRE) .

Plants 7-25 cm high, stem reaching 2-10 cm above ground; corm with a crescent-shaped basal ridge. Leaves 3-4, lower 2 basal, narrowly 4- grooved, often minutely ciliate, c. 1 mm diam.; outer bracts with hardly visible membranous margins, inner bracts with wide membranous margins edged brown above. Flowers blue-violet with cream and yellow cup, outer tepals shiny and wine-colored on reverse, tepals elliptic, obtuse, 14-28 mm long; filaments 6-9 mm long, anthers 4-6 mm long. Fruiting peduncles suberect. Flowering: Aug.

Rare and poorly known, Romulea vinacea is restricted to sandy soils in the Pakhuis Mountains near Clanwilliam in Western Cape Province, South Africa. It is closely allied to R. schlechteri and R. saxatilis and can be recognized by the obtuse tepals and violet flowers with a yellow cup, with the outer tepals shiny and wine-red on the outside.