Moraea viscaria
Encyclopedia
Moraea viscaria is a species of the genus
of Moraea
in the Iridaceae
that is named after the sticky secretion on the stem and branches.
It is a corm
ous geophyte 20 - 45 cm in height with white flowers. The outer tepal
s are 15 - 23 mm long and inner tepals 14 - 20 mm long. The flower is sweetly scented and pollen bright red. The stem is branched and sticky, dry at flowering. It flowers from October to December.
Its habitat is reported as sandy or stony flats in the Western Cape
between Saldanha
in the west and Cape Agulhas
in the east.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of Moraea
Moraea
Moraea is a genus of plants in the family Iridaceae. The genus name is a tribute to the English botanist Robert Moore.The technical botanical material in this entry is abstracted largely from “The Genera of Southern African Flowering Plants”-Description:...
in 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...
that is named after the sticky secretion on the stem and branches.
It is a corm
Corm
A corm is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ used by some plants to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat ....
ous geophyte 20 - 45 cm in height with white flowers. The outer tepal
Tepal
Tepals are elements of the perianth, or outer part of a flower, which include the petals or sepals. The term tepal is more often applied specifically when all segments of the perianth are of similar shape and color, or undifferentiated, which is called perigone...
s are 15 - 23 mm long and inner tepals 14 - 20 mm long. The flower is sweetly scented and pollen bright red. The stem is branched and sticky, dry at flowering. It flowers from October to December.
Its habitat is reported as sandy or stony flats in the Western Cape
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...
between Saldanha
Saldanha, Western Cape
Saldanha, also known as Saldanha Bay, is a town of 22,000 people, located north of Cape Town on the northern shore of Saldanha Bay, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Its situation as a natural sheltered harbour has led to development as a port for the export of iron ore from Sishen in...
in the west and Cape Agulhas
Cape Agulhas
Cape Agulhas is a rocky headland in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of Africa and the official dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in the east.