Sparaxis auriculata
Introduction
A flowering bulbous plant with large, bright mauve and yellow, two-lipped flowers with six petals. It is a local endemic from the Matsikamma Mountains in the Western Cape and a rewarding garden ornamental and container plant.
Description
Description
Sparaxis auriculata is a herbaceous, perennial bulbous plant that grows from 150 up to 400 mm tall. Its rootstock is a narrowly conical corm, 12-14 mm in diameter, covered with tunics of medium-textured fibres. The leaves are lanceolate, acute, the sheaths largely marked with dark spots and the blades have a large submarginal vein that make the margins appear to be thickened. This species has unscented, two-lipped flowers that are cream-coloured, with pale mauve dorsal tepals, deep yellow lower tepals that slowly change to cream at the tips, and half of its throat is lined with greyish purple. Flowering starts in midwinter and continues into spring, from early August to mid September, each plant producing a spike of 5-7 flowers. This plant produces small seeds that are black with a white mark on the seed coat. The flowers of this species can be distinguished from other similar species of Sparaxis by the longer and larger style that splits just below the tips of the anthers, the branches arching over and beyond the anthers.
Conservation Status
Status
According to the Red list of South African plants Sparaxis auriculata is Endangered (EN). This species is a local endemic, known from just a few locations and is threatened by ongoing, sporadic habitat loss to cultivation of rooibos tea and cash crops such as tomatoes and onions.
Distribution and habitat
Distribution description
Sparaxis auriculata is found in the northern Western Cape in the Vanrhynsdorp District. It grows on the lower slopes of the Matsikamma Mountains, on rocky sites where it is locally common, growing in between the rocks and in clear areas on bush-covered sandstone slopes.
Derivation of name and historical aspects
History
I.S Walters first recorded Sparaxis auriculata as a new species of the Western Cape and the western Karoo in 1979 on the farm Vleikraal, situated on the slopes of the Matsikamma Mountains east of Klawer. Initially this species was considered to be similar to Sparaxis villosa, but was later classified in the genus Synnotia. In 1997, on the Gifberg Pass east of Vleikraal, a second collection was made, and in early august 1998 a third collection of the species was made on the middle slopes of the Koolandshoek farm. After examining the living plants and underground organs it became clear to Peter Goldblatt and John Manning that this was a new species and they described it in 1999. It is mainly differentiated by vegetative features, for instance it has tunics of medium-textured fibres, narrowly conical corms, purple-spotted sheaths, leaves with acute tips and the prominent submarginal vein.
The genus name was derived from a Greek word sparasso that means ‘to tear’ and refers to the typically torn appearance of the floral bracts. The species name auriculata means ‘eared’ and refers to the ear-like shape of the basal lobes of the lower lateral tepals.
Ecology
Ecology
Sparaxis auriculata flowers have no scent and produce little nectar, and have cream-coloured pollen The very narrow funnel-shaped floral tube about 18 mm long leads to the ovary that is 3.5 mm long, with a style that arches over the stamens. The flowers are often visited by bees looking for nectar but since the flower produces little nectar and its floral tube is closed tightly around the style, it disappoints many of the bees that are constantly searching for nectar. However, even if some of the bees are tricked into visiting and don’t get the reward of nectar, the large-bodied, long-tongued bees that can reach down the very narrow tube to get to the nectar, successfully pollinate these flowers. The bright yellow lower lip signals to the bees that food is available, and the large dorsal tepal shelters the pollen from the elements and hides it from opportunistic pollen thieves.
This plant is found on rocky sandstone slopes in the Vanrhynsdorp District. It is adapted to a winter-rainfall climate, where the plants die back in autumn and become dormant during the dry summer season, resprouting in autumn and growing and flowering during the rainy winter
Uses
Use
Sparaxis auriculata can be used in the garden or in parks as an ornamental plant and is suitable for containers and rock gardens. This plant is very free flowering in full sun, has a long flowering period and it attracts butterflies and bees.
Growing Sparaxis auriculata
Grow
Sparaxis auriculata can be propagated by seeds and offsets. Sow seeds in autumn and lift the corms and separate the cormlets that develop around the adult corms in late summer. Germination of fresh seeds will take place within 2 to 3 weeks after being sown and by the second season the seedling can mature and will flower for the first time in the third year. It is easy to grow and prefers full sun and well-drained soil. The soil must be moist but not too wet during autumn, winter and spring. It is easy to grow as long as it is kept totally dry in summer. The corms are subject to rotting if not kept dry in summer.
References
- Duncan, G.D. 2010. Grow bulbs. Kirstenbosch Gardening Series. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Cape Town.
- Ebrahim, I. 2019-09-27. Observation of Sparaxis auriculata, Vanrhynsdorp District, WC. iNaturalist. Online. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/32042826.
- Goldblatt, P. & Manning J.C. 1999. New species of Sparaxis and Ixia (Iridaceae: Ixiodeae) from Western Cape, South Africa and taxonomic notes on Ixia and Gladiolus. Bothalia, African Biodiversity and Conservation 29(1): 59-63.
- Goldblatt, P. & Manning J.C. 2000. Sparaxis expanded. A review of a Cape genus and its biology. Veld & Flora 86: 22-25.
- Goldblatt, P. & Manning, J.C. 2013. Systematics and biology of the Cape genus Sparaxis (Iridaceae). Strelitzia 32. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.
- Manning, J., Goldblatt, P. & Snijman, D. 2002. The color encyclopedia of Cape bulbs. Timber Press, Cambridge.
- Raimondo, D. & Helme, N.A. 2014. Sparaxis auriculata Goldblatt & J.C.Manning. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version 2020.1. Accessed on 2023/10/25.
Credits
Sisipho Mqungguthu
Karoo National Botanical Garden
November 2023
Acknowledgements: the author thanks Ismail Ebrahim and Alice Notten for the images.
Plant Attributes:
Plant Type: Bulb
SA Distribution: Western Cape
Soil type: Sandy, Loam
Flowering season: Spring, Winter
PH: Acid, Neutral
Flower colour: Purple, Cream, Yellow, Mauve/Lilac
Aspect: Full Sun
Gardening skill: Average
Special Features:
Attracts butterflies
Good potplant
Feeds honeybees
Horticultural zones
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