About Moraea bellendenii (Sweet) N.E.Br.
Moraea bellendenii (Sweet) N.E.Br. is a species of flowering plant in the genus Moraea, named for English botanist John Bellenden. This yellow-flowered, cormous geophyte is common in the Western Cape of South Africa, where it grows on sandy slopes and flats. Mature plants typically reach 50 to 100 cm in height, are multi-branched, and produce a single solitary leaf. The flower’s outer tepals are 22 to 33 mm long, while its smaller inner tepals are tricuspidate, measuring 8 to 10 mm long. This species flowers between October and November. Its natural distribution in the Western Cape extends from Darling in the west to Plettenberg Bay in the east. It is closely related to another Moraea species, Moraea tricuspidata. The taxon was first formally described as Vieusseuxia bellendenii by Robert Sweet in 1826. In 1929, N. E. Brown reclassified the species, transferring it to the genus Moraea under the binomial now accepted as Moraea bellendenii.
