''Lapeirousia anceps'', also known as long kabong, is a species of

geophyte A storage organ is a part of a plant specifically modified for storage of energy (generally in the form of carbohydrates) or water. Storage organs often grow underground, where they are better protected from attack by herbivores. Plants that have ...

in the genus ''

Lapeirousia ''Lapeirousia'' is a genus in the plant family Iridaceae. It is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, about a third of the species occurring in fynbos. Origin of genus name The genus ''Lapeirousia'' was described by Pierre André Pourret in Mém. Aca ...

''. It is native in the

Cape provinces The Cape Provinces of South Africa is a biogeographical area used in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD). It is part of the WGSRPD region 27 Southern Africa. The area has the code "CPP". It includes the Sou ...

in South Africa.

Distribution and habitat

The range for ''Lapeirousia anceps'' goes from southern

Namaqualand Namaqualand ( Khoikhoi: "Nama-kwa" meaning Nama Khoi people's land) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over and covering a total area of . It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River int ...

Mossel Bay Mossel Bay () is a harbour town of about 170,000 people on the Garden Route of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province. Mossel Bay lies 400 kilometres east of the country's seat of parliament, Ca ...

. It thrives in low rain, nutrient poor biomes. It is most commonly found in the months of October and November.

Description

It grows between 100-300 millimeters long. The flowers colors range from white to light pink, and have red markings on the lower

tepals A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of ve ...

. The flowers bloom in the spring. There are 5-7 ribbed lower leaves are usually longer and wider than the upper leaves. The upper leaves are crowded near the base.

Ecology

The long-proboscid fly (''

Moegistorhynchus longirostris ''Moegistorhynchus longirostris'' is a keystone species of fly that lives on the west coast of South Africa. Anatomy ''M. longirostris'' has a very long proboscis that is believed to be the product of an evolutionary arms race between pollina ...

),'' is a pollinator for the plant, using its long proboscid to get nectar.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15573388 Iridaceae Plants described in 1804 Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces