Sparaxis elegans is another cormous perennial from the Iridaceae family. It grows in clay soil near Nieuwoudtville, in the general area where most of the other Sparaxis species endemic to South Africa also grow. Flowers have a shallow cup marked by an attractive circular line, dark or broken with yellow markings across the base of all six tepals. Flower colour is salmon pink, red or (less commonly), white, as the flower in picture here. The corm is about 15 cm in diameter, the leaves are sword-like and the anthers are coiled and purplish (Manning, 2007).

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Alet Steyn