About Geissorhiza splendidissima Diels
Geissorhiza splendidissima Diels has glossy dark blue flowers with dark red-brown pollen. It bears imbricate corm tunics, a feature typical of species in subgenus Geissorhiza. Several of its traits are unusual: zygomorphic flowers with unilateral, declinate stamens, dark red-brown pollen, and a somewhat ribbed sheath on its uppermost leaf. This ribbed sheath character is shared with the apparently closely related G. arenicola, a trait that sets these two species somewhat apart within their section. Geissorhiza splendidissima grows in damp areas of stony clay flats in Renosterveld vegetation on the Kouebokkeveld Mountains around Nieuwoudtville. In its ecology, the Namaqua rock rat and the Cape porcupine eat G. splendidissima. Ripened seeds fall from the plant, which leads to the formation of colonies of this species.
