Dietes grandiflora
Encyclopedia
Dietes grandiflora is a rhozomatous
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...

 perennial plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

 with long, rigid, sword-like green leaves belonging to the Iridaceae
Iridaceae
The Iris family or Iridaceae is a family of perennial, herbaceous and bulbous plants included in the monocot order Asparagales, taking its name from the genus Iris. Almost worldwide in distribution and one of the most important families in horticulture, it includes more than 2000 species...

 family. This species is common in horticulture
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...

 in its native South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, where it is often used in public gardens, beautification of commercial premises and along roadsides.

The blooms are white marked with yellow and violet. Dark markings are found at the base of the outer tepals. These are borne in abundance during summer, especially after rain. Flowers are followed by 5 cm long green capsules that contain very dark brown seeds, these are displersed when the capsule splits open.

Cultivation

Plants prefer dappled shade to full sun where they will flower in profusion, though they will grow in shaded areas (with an accompanying loss of flower production). Under favourable conditions, the clumps multiply rapidly. Dietes grandiflora are drought and frost hardy, making them popular for en masse plantings.
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