Stem to 35 cm, branched. Leaves 5-12 mm wide, acute. Flowers 2-4, usually cream, often streaked mauve externally, rarely pale yellow or purple; early spring. Perianth tube 14-16 mm long, yellow; segments almost equal, 25-30 mm. Anthers and style white, lying on one side of flower.
Cape Province.
A range of hybrids between S. bulbifera and S. tricolor are frequent in gardens and also as feral populations. Their flowers are white marked with varying amounts of yellow and black internally and usually deep red externally. The cultivar 'Queen Victoria' with white, yellow and black flowers originated from these species.
S. grandiflora (Delaroche) Ker Gawl. subsp. grandiflora, Cape Province, has stems to 45 cm tall, unbranched. Leaves 5-15 mm wide, obtuse. Flowers 1-4, red-purple or cream; spring. Perianth tube 11-15 mm long; segments almost equal, 24-30 mm long, usually with a dark patch at base.Anthers and style cream to yellow, lying on one side of flower. Syn. S. fragrans hort. The cultivar 'Purple Passion' has flowers uniformly dark violet-purple with cream style and stamens. Subsp. acutiloba Goldblatt has flowers bright yellow, and subsp. violacea (Eckl.) Goldblatt has flowers violet-purple.
S. parviflora (G. Lewis) Goldblatt from Cape Province has stems to 25 cm tall, often forked near base. Leaves 7-14 mm wide. Flowers 2-4, cream, shaded mauve externally; spring. Perianth tube about 10 mm long; segments oblong, 9-12 mm long, lower laterals bright yellow with brown marks at base. Syn. Synnotia parviflora G. Lewis.
S. variegata (Sweet) Goldblatt from Cape Province has stems 20-35 cm tall, usually forked near base. Leaves to 14 mm wide. Flowers 3-8, mauve; spring. Perianth tube bent near apex, 30-40 mm long, white-striped; top segment erect, obovate, 25-30 mm long, mauve; lower lateral segments smaller, cream with mauve tips. Syn. Synnotia variegata Sweet, S. metelerkampiae (L. Bolus) Goldblatt & J.C. Manning is similar but has smaller, violet flowers with an orange spot at the base of each segment.
S. villosa (N.E. Br.) Goldblatt, Blou Kappie, from Cape Province has stems 20-35 cm tall, often branched, with 2-6 flowers. Leaves 8-15 mm wide. Flowers 2-6, pale yellow; spring. Perianth tube 15-22 mm long; top segment erect, obovate, 15-21 mm long, mauve; lower lateral segments shading to cream at tips. Syn. Synnotia villosa N.E. Br.
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.