Romulea flava (Lam.) 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 : 84

26. Romulea flava (Lam.) M.P. de Vos

J. S. African Bot. 36: 273 (1970) ; J. S. African Bot., Suppl. 9: 98 (1972); Fl . S. Africa 7(2), fasc. 2: 26 (1983). — Ixia flava Lam. , Tab. Encycl.: 109 (1791). — Type: South Africa, Western Cape, without locality or collector (lecto-, Herb. Lamarck , P!, designated by M. P. DE VOS, 1972) .

Plants mostly 5-15 cm high, stem subterranean or reaching 30 cm above ground; corm with a crescent-shaped basal ridge. Leaves 3-4, lower 1 basal, often wider and clasping below, narrowly or widely 4-grooved, sometimes minutely ciliate, 1-4 mm diam.; outer bracts with narrowly or scarcely visible membranous margins, inner bracts membranous or submembranous, often brown-streaked. Flowers white or yellow, rarely blue or pinkish with a yellow cup, the white forms sometimes scented, tepals oblanceolate, 10-30 mm long, outer tepals uniformly green on the outside; filaments 4-7 mm long, anthers 3- 7 mm long. Fruiting peduncles recurved, later erect. Flowering: June-Sep.

Widespread and common across a large part of the southern African winter-rainfall zone from Namaqualand in the north to Humansdorp in the southeast, Romulea flava is also extremely variable. Flowers are usually yellow but may be white or pale blue and vary greatly in size, sometimes being very small. Plants grow in sandy or clay soils, occurring in fynbos or renosterveld. The species is distinguished by having a single basal leaf, all of the leaves with fairly fleshy blades clasping below, the inner bracts entirely membra- nous or submembranous, and the outer tepals are uniformly green on the outside.