Genus: Moraea

[= Homeria]

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) >  Monocotyledons >  Order: Asparagales >  Family: Iridaceae

About 200 species, found throughout sub-Saharan Africa and with 2 species also occurring in the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. About 180 species occur in southern Africa, with a concentration of species in the Western Cape.

Moraea bellendenii
Moraea miniata
Moraea ?tripetala Nature's Valley, Eastern Cape, South Africa [photo A. Mills ©]
Moraea sp. Cedarberg (Western Cape, South Africa)

Some species are pollinated by long-tongued flies, others by monkey beetles or carrion flies (Goldblatt & Manning 2000).

Publications

• Goldblatt, P. 1986. The moraeas of southern Africa. Annals of Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens 14.

• Goldblatt, P. & Manning, J.C. 1995. New species of southern African Moraea (Iridaceae: Iridoideae), and the reduction of Rheome. Novon 5: 262-269.

• Goldblatt, P. & Manning, J.C. 2000. Iridaceae. In: In: Seed Plants of Southern Africa (ed. O.A. Leistner). Strelitzia 10: 623-638. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.