MORAEA, _Linn._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant._ vol. iii. p. 688.
=Moraea iridioides=, _Linn. Mant._ 28; _Fl. Cap._ vol. vi. p. 25.
This is one of the largest and most handsome species in the genus and is frequently cultivated in South African gardens. Thunberg appears to have been the first collector of this plant; he gathered his specimens near the Zeekoe River in Humansdorp Division about 1772, but the species was known in England before then, as there is a record of Miller having it in cultivation in 1758. The first figure of the species appeared in the _Botanical Magazine_ in 1804 and it has been figured several times since. The present illustration was made from specimens growing in the garden of the Natal Herbarium, Durban.
DESCRIPTION:--A perennial plant with short underground rhizomes. _Leaves_ crowded in dense fan-shaped basal rosettes, 0·6-1·3 metres long, 1-2 cm. broad, linear, acute, equitant at the base, glabrous. _Peduncles_ equalling or exceeding the leaves. _Inflorescence_ corymbose. _Spathe-valves_ 2, about 6·5 cm. long, obtuse, tightly folded; the outer smaller than the inner. _Perianth-segments_ 5-6 cm. long, 2-3 cm. broad, obovate, obtuse, clawed at the base; the 3 outer segments with an orange-yellow keel, densely pilose at the base; the 3 inner segments narrower, with dark markings above the claw. _Ovary_ ellipsoid. _Stigmas_ purple, lanceolate, 2-lobed. _Fruit_ 5 cm. long, 1·7 cm. in diameter, ellipsoid; valves coriaceous. _Seeds_ discoid.
HAEMANTHUS, _Linn._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant._ vol. iii. p. 730.
=Haemanthus natalensis=, _Pappe ex Hook. in Bot. Mag._ t. 5378; _Fl. Cap._ vol. vi. p. 232.
The late Dr. Pappe first brought this species to the notice of Kew as an undescribed South African plant, and not long afterwards (1862), Dr. Sanderson sent bulbs from Natal to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, which flowered the following year. An excellent figure of the plant appeared in the _Botanical Magazine_ of the same year. The species appears to be fairly common in Natal, but the only Cape Province record we have is supplied by a specimen collected by Mr. W. Tyson at Kokstad, East Griqualand, 1883. The present illustration was made from specimens collected by Miss K. A. Lansdell at “Stella Bush” near Durban. It is popularly known as the “Blood Flower,” “Snake Lily,” and “April Fool.” It is reputed to be poisonous, but is used medicinally by the natives of Natal who know it as “Indumbe-ka-Hloile.”
