Hesperantha is a genus in the Iridaceae family native to Southen Africa. There are around 77 species with 34 found in the Cape Floral region of South Africa. A number of them open late in the afternoon or early evening.
Hesperantha bachmannii grown from seed and blooming in Northern California, photograph by Mary Sue Ittner
![]()
Hesperantha baurii is a species from the summer rainfall areas and that is when it blooms. It has rose or mauve flowers star like flowers opening to the sun and is from the Drakensburg Mountains, Transvaal and Natal so would be much hardier than the Cape species. Photo by Bob Rutemoeller.
![]()
Hesperantha coccinea previously and still sometimes referred to as Schizostylis coccinea grows from a rhizome instead of a corm. It is known locally as the Scartlet River Lily because it is confined to perennial stream banks and islands in the high altitude regions of the Eastern Cape and Natal at altitudes of 1500 to 2500m. It is never found away from water and the plants are permanently in a wet or at least moist environment with the stream often running over and through them. They have a specific flowering time in the Southern hemisphere autumn - March and April with maybe a few flowers in late February. We have found them to grow readily in gardens in South Africa provided they are kept moist. They are good subjects to place around garden pools or in wet areas of the garden and multiply rapidly. They also grow very easily from seed. Photos from Cameron McMaster shown in habitat at Rockford Bridge, Cathcart, Eastern Cape.
![]()
In my Northern California garden this plant is invasive with regular summer water and with little summer water often disappears. This one blooming in September 2003 I thought had disappeared. Photo by Bob Rutemoeller.
![]()
This species was the subject of the pbs list topic of the week in February 2003. The topic: Schizostylis--Hesperantha, a confused genus was introduced by Alan Kennedy who has a NCCPG National Collection of Schizostylis Cultivars. Click on this link to read his
Introduction.
Hesperantha cucullata is found on sandy and shale slopes in the western Karoo and the northwest Cape from the Bokkeveld Plateau to the Biedouw valley. It has three to eight white flowers on a spike and flowers open in late afternoon or evening and are often fragrant during the night. The outer tepals have a brown or red reverse so during the day you just may see the bright colored buds, but if out exploring later in the day the flowers will have opened. There were a lot of them blooming near Nieuwoudtville in September 2006. Photos by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner.
![]()
Photo taken by Cameron McMaster in the Roggeveld.
![]()
A picture of one grown from seed that shows the leaves and another of the corms that are rounded with an oblique side. Photographs by Mary Sue Ittner
![]()
Hesperantha erecta has creamy white flowers which open in the afternoon. It is found on granite outcrops, granitic sands, sandveld and renosterveld in the northwestern and southwestern Cape. It blooms late winter to early spring. This photo by Kristina Van Wert shows it flowering in the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens bulb collection.
![]()
Hesperantha humilis is a short plant with deep pink to reddish flowers that open in the day when the temperatures are warm enough. It flowers winter to spring and is found growing on sandstone and shale slopes, mainly in renosterved. The first two photo from Bob Rutemoeller show one grown from Silverhill Seed blooming January 2004. The second photo from Mark Mazer shows one in bud. Two more pictures show the front and back of blooms from the same descendants of the plants of 2004 blooming in January 2008. The final photo shows the corms on a 1 cm. grid. Photos by Mary Sue Ittner
The first photo taken by Mark Mazer shows the bud. The second was taken by Cameron McMaster in habitat near Sutherland in the Roggeveld.
![]()
Hesperantha latifolia grown from seed and blooming in Northern California, photograph by Mary Sue Ittner of a plant blooming early February 2004.
![]()
Hesperantha marlothii has a bell-shaped corm with a flat base. It grows in rocky areas of the Roggeveld and in the Northwest Cape. This species has three to six creamy flowers with a brown or red reverse. The flowers have a recurved tube and bloom on a spike late winter early spring. Photos taken late in the day in the Komsberg by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner September 2006. The third photo was taken by by Cameron McMaster taken near Middlepos.
![]()
Hesperantha pauciflora has pink to purple, rarely yellow, unscented flowers that open in the afternoon and is found in the Northwest Cape in sandy soils where it blooms late winter to spring. This is a picture of one blooming in Nieuwoudtville in the middle of Romulea sabulosa, photograph by Mary Sue Ittner
And a single one blooming in Northern California is April 2004. Photo by Mary Sue Ittner
![]()
Hesperantha pilosa grows on sandstone soils in winter rainfall areas and flowers late winter into spring. Flowers can be white opening in the evening and sweetly scented or blue to purple, opening in the day and unscented. These are a purple, almost pink depending on the light, opening in the day with attractive markings on the back. Photos by Mary Sue Ittner
![]()
Hesperantha sp. I have received seed a couple times of this species under a couple different Geissorhiza names. But it appears to be a Hesperantha instead. It increases rapidly and sets seed easily, but isn't a very exciting plant as it only blooms on warm days and then does not open until late in the day and the flower is very small, white, with red-brown on the back. Photo by Mary Sue Ittner
![]()
Hesperantha sp. This could be Hesperantha falcata but I don't really know. It was blooming in mass near Tulbagh August 2006 where it was being pollinated by monkey beetles that were almost as large as the flowers. Photos by Mary Sue Ittner
![]()
Hesperantha vaginata grown from seed and blooming in Northern California, photograph by Mary Sue Ittner
![]()
This yellow form of Hesperantha vaginata sometimes known as Hesperantha var. stanfordiae was grown from corms from Lauw de Jager, photograph by Mary Sue Ittner
![]()
Return to the PBS wiki Photographs And Information page.
