The genus Moraea can be divided into five groups: Galaxia, Gynandriris, Hexaglottis, Homeria, and Moraea. Galaxia has been sunk into Moraea. This former genus in the Iridaceae family is distributed from the Bredasdorp District of the western Cape to northern Namaqualand in the northern Cape of South Africa. There are 16 species included in what is now labeled as section or group Galaxia. There are those who feel that it should have been kept a separate genus since it looks so different from some of the other genera that are now included in Moraea. These are for the most part very short plants with solitary flowers. Species in this group are found on this wiki page. Information and pictures of the other groups can be found by clicking on these groups or the Moraea group pages listed below or found in the Moraea index where all species are listed alphabetically.
Moraea barnardiella (syn. Galaxia barnardii) is found on clay flats and hills in the southwest Cape. It is a short plant with pink to purple flowers with a blackish center. Photos by Rod Saunders and Audrey Cain.
Moraea citrina (syn. Galaxia citrina) is a short stemless plant from the northwest Cape where it is found in shallow, sandy or stony soils. It blooms winter to spring and has yellow flowers in a basal tuft with the filaments united in a column. Photo by Alan Horstmann.
Moraea fugacissima (syn. Galaxia fugacissima) is found on wet sand and clay flats from Namaqualand to Humansdorp. It has short-lived fragrant yellow flowers with fringed style lobes and filaments united in a column. Leaves are linear to terete and more or less erect. Photos by Rod Saunders and Cameron McMaster. The last is a habitat shot.
Moraea galaxia (syn. Galaxia ovata) is a short plant with yellow flowers in a basal tuft growing on flats and plateaus, mainly on sandstone soils in the winter rainfall areas of South Africa. It has ovate prostrate leaves. Bloom time can be from winter to early spring. Photographed by Bill Dijk, Alan Horstmann, and Cameron McMaster.
Moraea luteoalba (syn. Galaxia luteoalba) is a short stemless plant with yellow flowers fading to white at the edges arranged in a basal tuft. It has ovate prostrate leaves with hairy margins. It is found in sandstone outcrops in the northwestern Cape and blooms winter to spring. Photo by Alan Horstmann.
Moraea melanops was recognized as a new species in 2000. It resembles M. versicolor but is distinguished by its purple to lilac perianth with a dark purple-black center and stamens that are partly to entirely free. It has tepals that spread and do not form a floral cup. The first two photos were taken by Alan Horstmann and the last two by Cameron McMaster. The latter were taken in the Overberg.
Moraea versicolor (syn. Galaxia versicolor) is a short plant with pink flowers with a yellow center. It grows on clay and granite flats and slopes in the southwestern Cape and blooms late winter-early spring. This plant grown by Rod Saunders and Rachel Saunders was photographed by Bob Rutemoeller September 2003 in South Africa.
Gynandriris – Hexaglottis – Homeria A-J – Homeria K-Z – Moraea group A – Moraea group B – Moraea group C-E – Moraea group F – Moraea group G-I – Moraea group J-M – Moraea group N-R – Moraea group S – Moraea group T – Moraea group U-V – Moraea index
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