Chasmanthe floribunda

Plants 60-120 cm; corm depressed-globose, 40-70 mm diam. Stems 1-2-branched. Leaves 8-10, mostly basal, basal longer than cauline; blade lanceolate, ± reaching base of spike, 18-35 mm wide. Spikes 25-40-flowered; outer spathe 13-15 mm, apex obtuse to truncate; inner ± equaling outer, apex bifurcate; flowers distichous. Tepals: perianth tube 35-45 mm, 9-12 mm proximally, often twisted, ca. 40 mm distally, base pouched; dorsal tepal horizontal, 28-33 × 7-9 mm, much exceeding others; lateral tepals patent or recurved, 12-15 × 4-7 mm; lower median tepal slightly smaller than laterals; filaments 50-55 mm; anthers 7-8 mm; ovary 6-9 mm, style branching shortly below and opposite to anthers (or exceeding them); branches 7-10 mm. Capsules 10-15 mm. Seeds 5-7 mm diam.

Flowering mostly Feb--May. Road verges, grassy slopes; 0--100 m; introduced; Calif.; South Africa.

Chasmanthe floribunda has escaped from gardens and has become naturalized locally. It is native to the winter-rainfall region of South Africa. The species has been confused in North America with C. aethiopica (Linnaeus) N. E. Brown, which has similar flowers but is a smaller plant with unbranched stems, normally flowering in the early winter months.