The genus Moraea can be divided into five groups: Galaxia, Gynandriris, Hexaglottis , Homeria, and Moraea.
Moraea index lists all the species in all five groups alphabetically.
Moraea group species T are found on this wiki page.
The other species in the Moraea group are listed alphabetically on these wiki pages: 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 U-V
Moraea thomasiae grows on south-facing slopes in the renosterveld in the Northwest Cape and the Karoo Mountains. It has pale yellow flowers with dark veins and blooms late winter-early spring. The first two pictures were taken by Bob Rutemoeller in September 2003 in the Little Karoo and the third garden plant was photographed by Bob Werra.
Moraea tortilis is a species from Namaqualand where it is often associated with quartzite outcrops. It has blue or white short lived flowers with reflexed inner tepals and small nectar guides. Leaves are coiled like a corkscrew. Photo by Bob Werra.
Moraea tricolor found on wet sandy flats in the southwestern Cape blooms late winter-early spring in the wild. It has pink, red, purple, or yellow short lived flowers with yellow nectar guides on the outer tepals and is fragrant. Photos by Bob Werra and Alan Horstmann.
Photos taken by Cameron McMaster near Napier in the Overberg show a form without dark maroon edging on the yellow nectar guides.
Photos below were taken by Mary Sue Ittner. The last shows the corms on a 1 cm. grid.
Moraea tricuspidata is a late blooming Moraea that resembles Moraea bellendenii except it is a bit shorter and white. It grows on sandstone, granite, or sometimes clay slopes and is found in quite a few different areas of the Cape. It doesn't always bloom each year for me in cultivation and is reported to bloom well after a fire. Photos by Bob Rutemoeller of one in cultivation and one growing in a wild area of Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden seen September 2006.
Moraea trifida is a summer rainfall species that occurs in eastern Southern Africa where it grows in moist grassland. It has a single leaf that is often not longer than the stem and small cream to dull yellow usually unbranched flowers with trilobed inner tepals. Photos 1-3 by Cameron McMaster taken in the Eastern Cape. Photos 4-6 taken by Mary Sue Ittner and Bob Rutemoeller January 2010 at Naude's Nek.
Moraea tripetala is a widely distributed winter rainfall species found on rocky sandstone and clay soils. Flowers are open for a few days. The first two photos by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner were of flowers seen near Middelpos in the Roggeveld September 2006. The next three were taken September 2006 near Nieuwoudtville. The last flower photo was also taken near Nieuwoudtville by Andrew Harvie in 2009.
Photos by Bob Rutemoeller of garden flowers in Northern California and by Mary Sue Ittner of blooming in 2005 when it bloomed for a long time and abundantly in two Northern California gardens. The third photo of mass bloom was taken by Bob Werra and the fourth photo showing a lighter from was taken by Alan Horstmann. The last two photos taken by Arnold Trachtenberg are of corms donated by Bob Werra in BX 79 and grown under HID lights.
The first photo shows corms from Telos with netted tunics on a 1 cm grid. The second photo uses blue Painter's Tape as a color reference and measures flower diameter at 4 cm. The above-ground parts of three dried plants laid on a 1 cm grid (bold lines are cm) in the third photo show the angular stem shape and single leaf. The fourth photo shows the empty seed pods. In the fifth photo the flower is pulled open to reveal an anther. Because the anthers are pressed tight to the outer tepals, in my garden, unless I open the flower and pollinate by hand, the seed pods do not swell with seeds as seen in the sixth photo. Photos by M. Gastil-Buhl.
Moraea tulbaghensis now includes the species formerly known as Moraea neopavonia. Some growers have continued to use the old name to identify plants that closely match its description (see examples below).
Both of the former species have orange flowers with speckled centers, but the ones previously identified as M. tulbaghensis have smaller flowers held in a cup shape, longer anthers, and iridescent greenish nectar guides. The former M. neopavonia has larger flat-faced flowers with blue, black, or absent nectar guides. The two species were merged because botanists discovered intermediate forms between the two species, making it impossible to distinguish between them reliably.
The first five photos show the classic M. tulbaghensis form. The first photo was taken by Bob Rutemoeller of plant grown by Gordon Summerfield and the next two by Bob Werra. He admitted he blew on the flower to make the close-up open more fully for his picture. The final two are by Michael Mace, showing the greenish nectar guide and cup-shaped flower.
These photos show the classic M. neopavonia form with its flat flower and bright blue nectar guide. The first photo by Bob Rutemoeller was taken at the August 2006 IBSA meeting. The second photo by Michael Mace is of a plant grown in California.
Here are some other flowers previously classified as M. neopavonia. The nectar guide is sometimes small, black, or absent. The last photo shows a flower with streaks of color in it. This one had faded in the sun for several days; normally it's orange at the center and orange-yellow at the tips, but does not have white streaks. Photos by Michael Mace.
These photos show some intermediate forms. The first two have the form of M. tulbaghensis but blue and chratreuse nectar guides. The third has the M. neopavonia form but a gray-green eye. The fourth is somewhat cup shaped but has a blue nectar guide. And the fifth is flat and has a blue eye like M. neopavonia, but has the size and other characteristics of M. tulbaghensis.
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 U-V - Moraea hybrids - Moraea index