Babiana tubiflora

PLANTAE / PHANEROGAMAE / ANTHOPHYTA / ASPARAGALES / IRIDACEAE / CROCOIDEAE / IXIEAE / BABIANA / TUBIFLORA / TUBIFLORA

Babiana tubiflora (L.f.) Ker Gawl. subsp. tubiflora

Indigenous Endemic

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Morphological description

Plants 70-150 mm high, with stem acaulescent or extending 50 mm above ground, densely pale velvety hairy. Leaves linear to sword-shaped, 3-6 mm wide; shallowly pleated, smooth to lightly hairy. Spike inclined to decumbent, mostly 6- to 12-flowered; bracts velvety, 35-60 mm long, inner 1/4 to ± 1/2 as long as outer. Flowers white to creamy white, with small pink to red markings at base of lower tepal limbs; perianth tube (45-)60-80(-100) mm long, cylindric, slightly wider in upper 5-7 mm; tepals subequal, lanceolate, narrowed below and ± clawed, dorsal only slightly larger, 18-23 mm long, lower 3 tepals 3-4 mm wide. Filaments 13-16 mm long, exserted 7-10 mm from tube; anthers 4-5 mm long, usually white or pale blue-mauve). Style usually dividing opposite lower to middle 1/3 of anthers, branches 3-4 mm long. From: Goldblatt, P; Manning, JC. 2020. Iridaceae of southern Africa. Strelitzia 42: 1-1159. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. [CC BY]

Diagnostic description

Subsp. tubiflora is distinguished by the white to creamy white flowers, the lower tepals clawed and often with small pink to red marks at the bases of the limbs. The anthers are white to pale mauve and the style usually divides opposite the lower to middle third of the anthers. Sample populations of subsp. tubiflora have proved to be self-compatible and autogamous-almost all capsules produce full complements of seeds when isolated from potential pollinators. A local small-flowered variant from Jacobsbaai on the Atlantic Coast north of Saldanha has an unusually short tube, 40-45 mm long, and short tepals, 12 x 6 mm, not narrowed below into claws. Associated with the short tepals, the filaments are ± 6 mm long. As in typical subsp. tubiflora, the style divides opposite the lower third of the anthers. Only two populations of this morph are known, both comprising less than 100 plants and growing in deep sand on the foredunes. These plants have not been recognised taxonomically and we provisionally regard them to be merely a local sport or mutant. The flower dimensions are not included in the description of the species. From: Goldblatt, P; Manning, JC. 2020. Iridaceae of southern Africa. Strelitzia 42: 1-1159. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. [CC BY]

Habitat

Always in deep sandy ground on flats and dunes. From: Goldblatt, P; Manning, JC. 2020. Iridaceae of southern Africa. Strelitzia 42: 1-1159. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. [CC BY]

Distribution

As for the species. From: Goldblatt, P; Manning, JC. 2020. Iridaceae of southern Africa. Strelitzia 42: 1-1159. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. [CC BY]

Flowering time

August to September

Occurrence records map

This map contains point-based occurrences at different locations

iNaturalist: BODATSA: Data partners records:

Residence status

Occurrence in the Flora of Southern Africa (FSA) countries and South African provinces. Residence status indicates if a taxon is indigenous, endemic, naturalised or invasive in a specific region. This data is based on specimen records and literature

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BOT

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