Moraea macrantha Baker

Selected images: Click on each image to see a larger version and details of the record View all images (7)

Photo: Bart Wursten
Along main road between Lake Kaulime turn-off and Kaperepeze road, Nyika National Park

Detailed records: Display species records QDS maps by: Google Maps Point records by Google Maps

Species details: Click on each item to see an explanation of that item (Note: opens a new window)

Synonyms:	Moraea textilis Sensu Moriarty (1975) non Baker
Common names:
Frequency:	Locally fairly frequent.
Status:	Native
Description:	Plants with an erect unbranched flowering stem, 50–70 cm high, growing from a corm c. 15 mm in diameter. Cataphylls brown, irregularly broken to more or less fibrous. Foliage leaf much exceeding the stem, linear, 5–7 mm wide, channelled; sheathing leaves 4–5, 6–10 cm long, green. Inflorescence terminal; spathes green with a dry brown apex, the inner 9–13 cm long, the outer about two-thirds as long as the inner. Flowers often a very deep and dark violet-purple, sometimes a paler blue to violet; outer tepals with whitish to sometimes pale-yellow nectar guides; outer tepals lanceolate, 60–80 mm long, the limb 30–45 mm long, as long or longer than the claw; inner tepals lanceolate, 55–75 mm long, erect. Capsules narrowly ovoid, c. 3 cm long.
Notes:	Few species of any flower show a colour so deep, intense and with a velvety sheen as this one.
Derivation of specific name:	macrantha: large-flowered.
Habitat:	In high-altitude woodland and montane grassland.
Altitude range:	Above 1800 m
Flowering time:	Feb - Jun
Worldwide distribution:	DRC (eastern Shaba), southwestern Tanzania, northern Malawi and nearby Zambia.
Malawi distribution:	N
Growth form(s):
Endemic status:
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Content last updated:	Wednesday 13 March 2019
Literature:	Baumann, G. (2005). Photographic Guide to Wildflowers of Malawi Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi Pages 208 - 209. (Includes a picture). Burrows, J.E. & Willis, C.K. (eds) (2005). Plants of the Nyika Plateau Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 31 SABONET, Pretoria Page 313. (Includes a picture). Goldblatt, P. (1993). Iridaceae Flora Zambesiaca 12(4) Page 21. Moriarty, A. (1975). Wild Flowers of Malawi Purnell & sons Cape Town. Pages 9 - 10. As Moraea textilis (Includes a picture). Phiri, P.S.M. (2005). A Checklist of Zambian Vascular Plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 32 Page 116.

Other sources of information about Moraea macrantha:

Our websites:

Flora of Zambia: Moraea macrantha

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Moraea macrantha
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Moraea macrantha
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Moraea macrantha
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Moraea macrantha
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Moraea macrantha
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Moraea macrantha
JSTOR Plant Science: Moraea macrantha
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Moraea macrantha
Plants of the World Online: Moraea macrantha
Tropicos: Moraea macrantha
Wikipedia: Moraea macrantha