Romulea montana Schltr. ex Bég.

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 : 83

22. Romulea montana Schltr. ex Bég.

Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 38: 332 (1907); M . P . de Vos , J . S . African Bot., Suppl. 9: 87 (1972); Fl. S . Africa 7(2), fasc. 2: 23 (1983). — Type: Schlechter 10949, South Africa, Northern Cape, Bokkeveld Mts. Oorlogskloof (holo-, G; iso-, B, BOL!, GRA, K!, P, PRE, S) .

Plants 4-15 cm high, stem subterranean or reaching 15 cm above ground; corm with a wide, crescent-shaped basal ridge. Leaves 4-6, lower 2 basal, narrowly 4-grooved, 0.5-1 mm diam.; outer bracts with hardly visible membranous margins, inner bracts with wide brownish membranous margins. Flowers yellow with dark streaks or blotches in the throat, unscented, tepals elliptic, 15-35 mm long; filaments 5-6 mm long, anthers 4-8 mm long. Fruiting peduncles widely spreading. Flowering: July-Sep.

Romulea montana occurs on rocky sandstone pavement, usually in shallow soil that remains wet during the growing season. The range extends from the Bokkeveld Mountains in Northern Cape to the Cedarberg Mountains of Western Cape. It and its northern vicariant, R. citrina are among the few yellow-flowered species of series Ciliatae . Romulea montana is most easily distinguished from R. citrina by the corm with a very broad basal ridge, usually wider than the corm and the widely spreading fruiting peduncles. Anatomically the leaves lack the marginal sclerenchyma strands that characterise those of R. citrina .