''Moraea viscaria'' is the type species of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of ''

Moraea ''Moraea'', the Cape tulips, is a genus of plants in the family Iridaceae, first described as a genus in 1758. The group is widespread across Africa, the Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, ...

'' in the family

Iridaceae Iridaceae () is a family of plants in order Asparagales, taking its name from the Iris (plant), irises. It has a nearly global distribution, with 69 accepted genera with a total of about 2500 species. It includes a number of economically importan ...

that is named after the sticky secretion on the stem and branches. It is a

corm Corm, bulbo-tuber, or bulbotuber is a short, vertical, swollen, underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ that some plants use to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (perennation). The word ''c ...

ous

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 ...

20 – 45 cm in height with white flowers. The outer

tepal 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 very ...

s are 15 – 23 mm long and inner tepals 14 – 20 mm long. The flower is sweetly scented and pollen bright red. The stem is branched and sticky, dry at flowering. It flowers from October to December. Its habitat is reported as sandy or stony flats in the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

between Saldanha in the west and

Cape Agulhas Cape Agulhas (; , "Cape of Needles") is a rocky headland in Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of Africa and the beginning of the traditional dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian oceans according to the In ...

in the east.

References

Goldblatt: The Moraeas of Southern Africa. Annals of Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardent Vol.14 CTP Book Printers Cape 1986. viscaria Plants described in 1805 {{Iridaceae-stub