Romulea hirsuta (Steud. ex Klatt) Baker

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 : 89-90

39. Romulea hirsuta (Steud. ex Klatt) Baker

J. Linn. Soc. Bot. 16: 89 (1877); M.P. de Vos, J. S. African Bot., Suppl. 9: 125 (1972); Fl. S. Africa 7(2), fasc. 2: 29 (1983). — Trichonema hirsutum Steud. ex Klatt, Linnaea 34: 665 (1865-66). — Type: Ecklon 703, South Africa, Western Cape, Cape Peninsula, Devil’s Peak (neo-, S, designated by M. P. DE VOS, 1972; isoneo-, B, G, K!, M, P, PRE!, Z) .

Plants 6-30 cm, stem subterranean or reaching 20 cm above ground; corm symmetrical, bellshaped with a circular rim of fibrils. Leaves 2-6, basal and usually cauline, narrowly or widely 4-grooved, sometimes ciliate, 0.5-4 mm diam.; outer bracts without visible membranous margins, inner bracts with narrow or wider white or brown membranous margins. Flowers pink to red or coppery orange, often with dark marks around the yellow cup, unscented, tepals elliptic to oblanceolate, 15-35 mm long; filaments 4-8 mm long, anthers 3-7 mm long. Fruiting peduncles suberect or somewhat spreading. Flowering: Aug.-Sep.

A very attractive plant, Romulea hirsuta has a wide range in Western Cape Province from Clanwilliam in the north to the Agulhas Peninsula in the south. The species is most often found on granitic or sands slopes and flats but occasionally occurs on clay. A distinctive feature of many populations is the strongly angled or prominently winged peduncle. Populations from the granite hills between Darling and Saldanha are exceptional in having broad leaves with wide longitudinal grooves and often larger flowers than are usual for the species. Most populations of the species have deep pink to red flowers, usually with darker blotches in the throat but the coppery orange-flowered form which occurs along the mountains from Clanwilliam to Hermanus lacks dark markings and is separated with difficulty from the R. triflora , which has yellow flowers.