Baeometra | |
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Baeometra uniflora, flower; Paarlberg Nature Reserve,Paarl, South Africa | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Liliales |
Family: | Colchicaceae |
Genus: | Baeometra Salisb. ex Endl. |
Species: | B. uniflora |
Binomial name | |
Baeometra uniflora | |
Synonyms | |
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Baeometra is a genus in the family Colchicaceae containing a single species, Baeometra uniflora. It is native to South Africa, where it is commonly called beetle lily due to the dark markings on the tepals.
The genus was erected when the British botanist Richard Salisbury described the species "Baeometra columellaris" in 1812, although the plant had already been discovered, described and painted in 1793 by the Austrian botanist Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin under the name Melanthium uniflorum. The correct name for the species was thus settled in 1941 by the South African botanist Gwendolyn Lewis to be Baeometra uniflora (Salisb.) G.J.Lewis. [1] The epithet means "single-flowered", which is contradicted by the fact that the stem usually bears at least two yellowish flowers.
The species is related to the genus Wurmbea , which is present in southern Africa and Australia, and is known to be a poisonous plant containing the alkaloid colchicine. [2]
The beetle lily is a geophyte that grows up to 30 cm (12 in) tall. [1] The lance-shaped leaves grow in a spiral shape. [3] There are between five and eight of them, clasping the base of the stem. [1] The largest is 10–30 cm (3.9–11.8 in) long, while the uppermost leaf almost entirely sheaths the stem. [4] The corm is a flattened, ovoid shape and is covered in dark brown, leathery layers. [1] It has a crescent-shaped ridge at the base. [4]
Bright orange or yellow unscented flowers are present between August and October. [3] [5] They have a firm texture and lack nectar. [5] Each plant has between one and five flowers growing in a funnel of successively smaller flowers. [1] The lower flowers are on short pedicles. [5] Each flower has a distinctive dark eye at the center. The stamens have maroon filaments and yellow anthers. [4] The red-flushed undersides of the petals are visible during cooler weather as the flowers only open when it is warm. [1] Each flower lasts only a few days, the tepals falling off to make space for the enlarging cylindrical, 3-lobed ovary as the fruits start to develop. [1]
The woody fruits (3–5 cm (1.2–2.0 in) long) mature slowly, usually only shedding seeds in late summer. [4] [5] They split where the lobes join on the top quarter of the fruit. [5] The reddish brown seeds (1–1.5 mm (0.039–0.059 in) in diameter) have a subglobose shape, but become angled by the pressure that is exerted on them. [4] They are slowly released as the stalks the fruits are borne on are shaken by the wind. [1]
The beetle lily is endemic to the southwestern cape of South Africa, where it is found between Malmesbury and Riversdale, where it is common in seasonally wet areas as well as lightly disturbed regions, such as road verges. [4] It is also found on rocky sandstone and granite slopes. [3]
This species has also been introduced to Australia, where it is considered to be an invasive and unwanted addition to the local flora. [6]
This species is insect pollinated. Like several other species in the region, the dark center attracts money beetles, such as Peritrichia abdominalis, as it resembles a mate. [5] The plant does, however, also seem to be able to self-fertilise as all flowers produce a full set of fertile seeds. [5]
Agapanthus africanus, or the African lily, is a flowering plant from the genus Agapanthus found only on rocky sandstone slopes of the winter rainfall fynbos from the Cape Peninsula to Swellendam. It is also known as the lily-of-the-Nile in spite of only occurring in South Africa.
Gloriosa is a genus of 12 species in the plant family Colchicaceae, and includes the formerly recognised genus Littonia. They are native in tropical and southern Africa to Asia, and naturalised in Australia and the Pacific as well as being widely cultivated. The most common English names are flame lily, fire lily, gloriosa lily, glory lily, superb lily, climbing lily, and creeping lily.
Babiana is a genus of geophytes in the family Iridaceae with 93 recognized species as of March 2022. The leaves consist of a stalk and a blade that are at an angle to each other. The leaf blades are entire, laterally flattened and pleated, and often hairy. Each individual flower is subtended by two hairy or smooth bracts that are green in most species. The outer bract is often the largest of the two. In most species the bracts have a dry, brown tip, but in a few species it is entirely green or entirely dry when flowering or the outer bract is translucent and has a papery texture. The inner bract is forked or split all the way to its base. Each flower is without a pedicel, with six tepals that are merged at their base into a tube and form a perianth that is mirror-symmetrical in most species, with three anthers implanted where the perianth tube widens and that are, in almost every species, clustered at one side of the style. The style has three branches that widen towards the tip and the ovary is inferior. Flowers occur in almost every conceivable colour, many have markings on some of the tepals, and few star-symmetrical flowers have a centre that strongly contrasts with the free part of the perianth. The majority of these species are endemic to the west and southwest of South Africa, and southwestern Namibia, but one species occurs elsewhere in Namibia and South Africa and another species can be found in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The genus name is derived from the Dutch word baviaan, referring to the Chacma baboon, Papio ursinus, that consumes the corms of plants in the genus. The genus is called bobbejaantjie in Afrikaans, meaning small baboon.
Lachenalia reflexa is species of the genus Lachenalia endemic to lowland areas near Cape Town, South Africa.
Wachendorfia is a genus of perennial herbaceous plants that is assigned to the bloodroot family. The plants have a perennial rootstock with red sap. From the rootstock emerge lance- or line-shaped, sometime sickle-shaped, pleated, simple leaves set in a fan, that are flattened to create a left and right surface rather than an upper and lower surface. The leaves die when the seeds are shed in three of the species, and are perennial in one species.
Rumex hypogaeus, commonly known in English as southern threecornerjack, devil's thorn, or double gee, is a herbaceous plant of the Polygonaceae. It is native in South Africa and is an invasive species in Australia, Texas in the USA, and Pakistan.
Moraea aristata is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae. It is referred to by the common names blue-eyed uintjie or Blouooguintjie in Afrikaans.It is endemic to the city of Cape Town and is considered to be critically endangered.
Gloriosa superba is a species of flowering plant in the family Colchicaceae. Common names include flame lily, climbing lily, creeping lily, glory lily, gloriosa lily, tiger claw, and fire lily.
Gladiolus alatus is a species of geophyte from South Africa. Common names include painted ladies, king kalkoentjie and kipkippie. Kalkoentjie means "little turkey" in Afrikaans and refers to the shape of the flower, which resembles a turkey's wattle. It is popular as a garden plant and an important part of the cut flower industry in parts of the world on account of its large and showy orange flowers.
Ixia monadelpha, also known as the pied kalossie or bontkalossie, is an endangered species of geophyte found in wet sandy flats in the southwestern Cape of South Africa.
Geissorhiza aspera, also known as the blue satin flower or blou sysie, is a geophyte from South Africa.
Romulea sabulosa is a perennial geophyte that is assigned to the family Iridaceae. It has a few grooved thread-like leaves, and relatively large burgundy red trimerous flowers, reminiscent of crocus flowers, with yellow to light greenish with black markings and stamens with light green free filaments. It only occurs on sandy clay on renosterveld west of Nieuwoudtville in the Northern Cape province South Africa. It is called satynblom in Afrikaans.
Romulea monadelpha is a herbaceous perennial geophyte in the family Iridaceae native to South Africa. It has a small corm in the soil, a few thread-like leaves, and trimerous dark red flowers with elaborate markings on the inside near the bottom of the flower. It is called karoo satynblom in Afrikaans.
Cyrtanthus ventricosus, commonly called fire lily, is a small deciduous, bulbous plant reaching a height of 100–250 mm (3.9–9.8 in). It is in the amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae, and is found along the Cape Fold Mountains from the Cape Peninsula, Western Cape, to the Kouga Mountains, Eastern Cape in South Africa.
Wahlenbergia capensis, commonly known as the Cape bluebell, is a plant in the family Campanulaceae and is native to the Cape Province but has been introduced to Australia. It is an annual herb with up to four greenish blue, bell-shaped flowers with spreading petal lobes.
Wachendorfia thyrsiflora, the marsh butterfly lily, is a plant species of 0.6–2.5 m (2.0–8.2 ft) high when flowering, that has been assigned to the bloodroot family. It is a large to very large evergreen perennial plant with an underground rootstock with clusters of roots produced at the nodes. The rootstock has a distinctive red colour that results from so-called arylphenalenone pigments. The sturdy, entire and broadly sword-shaped leaves have laterally flattened and pleated leaf blades. The golden yellow flowers are set a dense cylindrical panicle on a tall firm stalk. Flowering occurs from spring until mid-summer.
Senecio ruwenzoriensis is an African species of plant. While it is widely distributed, it seems to be highly localised in this range.
Cheiridopsis umdausensis is a species of succulent plant from South Africa.
Romulea hirsuta is a geophyte from South Africa. It has pink flowers with dark marks at the edges of the yellow center.
Lachenalia unifolia, the banded viooltjie, is the most common Lachenalia species in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa.