Many of the species in the subgroups can be crossed to produce Moraea hybrids. Pictured on this page are some of the hybrids produced deliberately and by garden pollinators in the Homeria and the Moraea subgroups.
Hybrids in the Homeria subgroup have appeared in Mary Sue Ittner's coastal Northern California garden that probably have Moraea collina, Moraea flaccida or Moraeas ochroleuca in their parentage. These bloom for several months and need to be dead headed so they won't spread. They still increase by forming offset corms. All photos taken in the garden by Bob Rutemoeller.
Each flower is only open one to two days, but there is a progression of new flowers and sometimes a number are open at the same time. Shown below are apricot ones and yellow ones in mass. Photos by Mary Sue Ittner.
The photos below are of a cross between the orange form of Moraea flaccida and a yellow Homeria, probably Moraea collina. The resulting flowers are a soft peach color, with yellow centers. They have delicate veins on the backs of the tepals. Photos by Michael Mace.
Hybrids in the Moraea group can be crossed to produce interesting results. Below are pictured ones with known and unknown parentage.
Moraea 'Zoe' is probably the best-known Moraea hybrid, with spectacular zebra stripes on its tepals. It was grown and photographed by Bill Dijk in New Zealand. He has named this plant Moraea villosa 'Zoe', but it has some characteristics that are closer to Moraea aristata so could be a hybrid between the two species and perhaps should just be known by the cultivar name. A third photograph was taken by Mary Sue Ittner who got her corms from Bill.
Moraea atropunctata × Moraea neopavonia I was surprised by this cross. According to my records, the seed parent was M. atropunctata, but its effects were subtle. The flowers are paler orange than my specimens of M. neopavonia (now known as M. tulbaghensis), and the nectar guide is hairy. The photos below show several siblings from the same cross. Some have darker centers than others. If I saw these without knowing their parentage, I might assume they were pure M. neopavonia. Photos from Michael Mace.
(Moraea atropunctata × Moraea neopavonia) × Moraea villosa The flower above was crossed with a form of M. villosa that has white tepals and a large blue-green nectar guide. The results were diverse. The first offspring to bloom was a large flower (for a Moraea) with very pale orange tepals, a nice blue-green spot, and a darker orange rim around the nectar guide. There are no spots on the backs of the tepals. Unfortunately the flower stays curled up like this for most of the day. The second sibling to bloom was very different -- it has a huge blue spot, and the backs of the tepals are freckled in dark purple. Photos from Michael Mace.
Moraea aristata × (Moraea atropunctata × Moraea neopavonia) I was surprised at how different these siblings were. My hope had been to get Moraea aristata's big blue nectar guide on an orange background. Instead, the first flower is orange, but has only two dark lines rather than a big nectar guide. Go figure. The second sibling is similar, but with slightly different nectar guides. The third one has the blue nectar guide, but the rest of the flower is light yellow rather than orange. Also, it has pale purple dots on the backs of the tepals. I think this is a very cool flower, but I am not sure how much breeding I will be able to do with it, as it produces almost no pollen. Photos from Michael Mace.
Moraea aristata × Moraea calcicola The flower has pale blue veins (the whole thing looks light blue from a distance), while the nectar guides are hairy and have a band of midnight blue with black in the center. The two siblings shown are subtly different -- the first one is a bit deeper in color, while the second has more prominent veins. It will be interesting to see if further breeding can bring out the veins more. Photos from Michael Mace.
Moraea aristata × Moraea loubseri First two photos from Bob Werra. The third photo was of a separate first-generation cross made by Michael Mace. The color scheme is reminiscent of M. loubseri, while the tepal shape is reminiscent of M. aristata. Unfortunately, these flowers produce very little pollen.
Moraea atropunctata × Moraea calcicola This one has the purple color of M. calcicola, with the spots and flesh-orange center of M. atropunctata. The first three photos show several selections from this cross, which vary subtly in darkness of veins, tepal shape, and number of spots. The backs of the flowers (photos four and five) are heavily freckled in purple. Photos from Michael Mace.
Moraea loubseri × unknown Moraea spp. These unintended hybrids have appeared in my collection over the last 5 years. I am reasonably certain that one parent is Moraea loubseri. Suspects for the other parents would include Moraea neopavonia, Moraea tricuspidata and perhaps Moraea papilionacea. Photos taken by Arthur Dawson.
Moraea neopavonia × Moraea villosa. This cross has the general color scheme of M. neopavonia, although the color is more intense toward the center of the flower. But the tepal shape is more like M. villosa. The undersides of the flowers have dark streaks that look almost red. Photo by Michael Mace.
Galaxia - 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