Greek hesper – evening and anthos – flower, as the flowers open late in the day.
Perennial herbs, dormant in summer. Corms flat-based with tunic of woody scales. Leaves flat, linear, erect. Stem simple or few-branched. Spike loose, 2 sided. Spathes herbaceous. Flower fragrant, starshaped; tube very short, stamens equal. Style short, divided in throat of tube into 3 thread-like branches.
55 species in southern Africa.
Offsets or seed.
Two-sided spike of pale, star-shaped flowers; style short, deeply divided.
Goldblatt (1984), Goldblatt & Manning (1996).
Source: (2005). Iridaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
