The pictures below are of Romuleas that are native to South Africa, grown from seed or seen in the wild. Many of the species are very similar and difficult to tell apart. Sometimes it is necessary to examine the bracts and bracteoles and often looking at the corm is very helpful. Photos of the different corms will be added as available.
There are three good references for the southern African species, The Genus Romulea in South Africa written by Miriam de Vos in 1972, her revision written in 1982 and a later revision from John Manning and Peter Goldblatt in 2001.
Species from L to N are shown on this page.
European And Mediterranean Romuleas - South African Romulea A-D - South African Romulea E-K - South African Romulea O-S - South African Romulea T-Z - Romulea index
Romulea leipoldtii is found on damp sandy sites in the western Cape, flowering in spring. The flowers are cream to white with a yellow cup. My first pictures made my flowers look cream and later pictures white. Finally there is a picture of the corms on a 1 cm grid; they are obliquely flattened towards the base with a crescent-shaped basal ridge. Photos 1-4 by Mary Sue Ittner. The final photo from Rod Saunders taken in habitat.
Romulea luteoflora has yellow flowers with dark lines or blotches around the cup. It flowers late winter into spring and is found on loamy soils in the Cape Province. The first three photos, taken Jan 2004 by Mary Sue Ittner of plants grown from Silverhill Seed, show a close-up, a whole pot in bloom, and the back of the flowers. The fourth photo shows a slightly different form grown by Michael Mace.
Romulea macowanii is a summer rainfall species with a golden yellow flower that is often orangy at the base. This plant is found from the Eastern Cape to KwaZulu-Natal. Flowering occurs at ground level with almost no flowering stalk. It is distinguished from other yellow flowered species by its long tube, but when mine bloomed I found this hard to see because of the way it blooms. The corm has a crescent shaped basal ridge. It blooms summer to fall. This species grows in similar habitats to Romulea camerooniana, sometimes side by side flowering simultaneously without hybridising. Both prefer high altitude mountain grassland (1000 - 2000m altitude), often in rocky outcrops and often in moist seepages - so they are adapted to a range of environments. They flower from January but peak flowering seems to be in April, which is autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Photos by Cameron McMaster and Mary Sue Ittner. The first photo is of a plant in cultivation. The second was photographed near Cathcart in the Eastern Cape. The last four photos were taken at Naude's Nek, January 2010, in the Drakensberg Mountains and show the habitat and flowers at various stages of opening and one blooming next to Romulea camerooniana.
Romulea membranacea grows on sandy flats in the western Karoo and the Bokkeveld escarpment. It blooms in winter. Flowers are dark yellow with dark lines in the cup. Photo by Alan Horstmann.
Romulea minutiflora is a widespread winter rainfall plant that flowers winter to spring. It has small pale mauve to violet flowers with a greenish-yellow cup, a violet circle in the throat and greenish or mottled backs. The last photo shows the corms on a 1 cm. grid. They are obliquely flattened with a spoon shaped basal ridge. Photos from Mary Sue Ittner.
Romulea monadelpha grows in damp doleritic clays flats and outcrops in the Bokkeveld Plateau and the Roggeveld escarpment. Growing mostly from 10 to 18 cm., it is very similar to Romulea sabulosa but differs by having deep claret-red flowers with each segment having a black blotch on a blue or purplish grey or sometimes pale yellow background. Filaments are joined, forming a short, stout, shiny-black column. Photos 1 and 2 taken of garden grown plants photographed in Northern California. Photo #3 shows Romulea sabulosa and Romulea monadelpha for comparison. They bloom about a week apart in Northern California. The last photo is a picture of the corms which are rounded at the base with curved acuminate basal fibers bent towards one side. Photos by Mary Sue Ittner.
Pictures taken in habitat in the Roggeveld near Middelpos by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner September 2006.
Photos taken in the Bokkeveld Plateau September 2006 by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner demonstrate the variety you can find even in the same location of plants seen in habitat.
Romulea montana is found on sandstone outcrops in the northwest Cape. It flowers late winter early spring. Flowers are yellow with dark streaks or blotches in the throat. Photo by Bob Werra.
Romulea monticola blooms winter into spring and is found in sandy loam in fynbos, Northwest Cape. It has small golden yellow flowers, often with a darker yellow cup and darker veins in the throat. Bracts are greenish or purplish brown; the inner has wide membraneous margins and tip. Corms are rounded at the base with with strongly curved basal teeth that are bent and often broken. The first four pictures by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner show the front and the back of the flowers, the corms on a 1 cm. grid, and a plant flowering September 2006 near Nieuwoudtville. The final photo from Rod Saunders taken in habitat.
Romulea multisulcata from the Northwest Cape grows in seasonal ponds where the corm and base of the stem are embedded in mud. It has two long, erect, cylindrical basal foliage leaves and butter-cup yellow flowers. Photo by Rod Saunders.
Romulea namaquensis is found on sandy or stony ground in the Kamiesberg in Namaqualand. It has shiny rose to salmon-pink, sometimes almost white, flowers with small blotches or 3 to 5 reddish-black veins in the throat. In the first picture by Mary Sue Ittner taken in Namaqualand, a very dry winter rainfall area of South Africa, it is shown growing with Lapeirousia silenoides. The second photo was taken by Alan Horstmann and the third by Rod Saunders.
European And Mediterranean Romuleas - South African Romulea A-D - South African Romulea E-K - South African Romulea O-S - South African Romulea T-Z - Romulea index