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  4. Moraea flaccida

Moraea flaccida

Potted plant near Whanganui.<br>Photographer: Robyn Ogle, Date taken: 28/10/2018, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Potted plant near Whanganui.<br>Photographer: Colin C. Ogle, Date taken: 28/10/2018, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Pest plant

NPPA pest plant

Environmental Weed

Environmental Weed (2024)

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Common names

Cape tulip

Biostatus

Exotic

Category

Vascular

Structural class

Herbs - Monocots

Simplified description

A single glabrous leaf arises from a corm; flowering stem usually branched with green bracts near the top of the stem. Flowers with 6 orange-salmon-pink or yellow tepals, 4-5 cm diameter.

Flower colours

Orange, Red/Pink

Detailed description

The plant grows up from a globose corm which has a thick, fibrous tunic. Two or three long, tough leaves arise at the base of the stem, arching over to trail their tips on the soil. Flowers funnel-shaped, about 5cm diameter, usually orange or salmon pink with a yellow centre, but occasionally be entirely yellow with a slightly darker centre. The stem has a characteristic “zig zag” shape, with the flowers borne at the angles. Numerous seeds are produced in a narrow, cylindrical capsule 4 to 5cm long x 5mm. Numerous corms are also produced, ranging in size form the size on a wheat grain up to 2.5 cm in diameter (DOC 1998).

Similar taxa

Distinguished by the long solitary tough leaf (Healy and Edgar 1980).

Habitat

Terrestrial. Pasture and grassy waste land in scattered localities.

Conservation status

Not applicable

Detailed taxonomy

Family

Iridaceae

Authority

Moraea flaccida (Sweet) Steud.

Synonyms

Homeria collina (of NZ and Australian authors) - for many years Moraea flaccida in NZ and Australia has been misidentified as Homeria (or Moraea) collina

Ecology

Flowering

September, October, November

Year naturalised

1944

Origin

South africa

Reason for introduction

Ornamental

Life cycle and dispersal

Perennial. Listed as a class A noxious weed, but more because it is toxic than for any environmental impacts in NZ (Ewen Cameron 1996). Reproduces by corms and seeds (3000-6000 per plant). Seeds spread by wind, corms and seeds spread by water, and on mud spread by animals, implements and vehicles.

Other information

National Pest Plant Accord species

This plant is listed in the 2020 National Pest Plant Accord. The National Pest Plant Accord (NPPA) is an agreement to prevent the sale and/or distribution of specified pest plants where either formal or casual horticultural trade is the most significant way of spreading the plant in New Zealand. For up to date information and an electronic copy of the 2020 Pest Plant Accord manual (including plant information and images) visit the MPI website.

Environmental Weed (2024)

This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.

NVS code

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

MORFLA

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