Hypoxis sessilis

Leaves 0. 9-5 mm wide, soft, usually stiff, sparsely to densely pubescent. Scape (3-)4-9(-14) cm. Inflorescences racemose, 1(-2)-flowered; proximal 2 flowers, when present, not paired; bracts (2-)3-7(-8) mm. Flowers: tepals (6-)7-10(-13) × 0.9-2.4 mm (chasmogamous flowers), shorter to longer than pedicel, 1.5-2 times as long as ovary; anthers 1.1-2.2 mm; ovary oblanceoloid, (3-)4-5(-6) × 1.5-2.5 mm, densely pilose; pedicel (2-)3-7(-8) mm, equaling or slightly shorter than bracts. Seeds black beneath loose, iridescent, membranous coat, (1.3-)1.4-2 mm, with rounded pebbling.

Flowering spring--summer. Mesic to moist pinelands; 0--200 m; Ala., Ark., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., N.C., Okla., S.C., Tex., Va.

Although there is a strong tendency for summer flowering in Hypoxis sessilis, in the southern part of its range it will flower at any time of year in response to fire or other disturbances.

Habitally like no. 2 [Hypoxis micrantha Pollard]; peduncle only 1-2-fld; fr pyriform, dehiscent; seeds golden- brown, iridescent, coarsely reticulate. Sandy soil on the coastal plain; se. Va. to Fla. and Tex. June, July. H. longii Fernald, with green or whitish cleistogamous fls, the tep only ca 3 mm, may be only a form of H. sessilis. Originally described from se. Va., it has more recently been found also in a limited, coherent area of Ark., Okla., La., and Tex., associated with Pinus taeda.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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