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Scientific Name
Synonyms
Family
Common Names
Origin
Cultivation
Naturalised Distribution
Habitat
Habit
Distinguishing Features
Stems and Leaves
Flowers and Fruit
Reproduction and Dispersal
Environmental Impact
Other Impacts
Legislation
Management
Similar Species
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Click on images to enlarge

several plants (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

habit showing the two large strap-like leaves (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

young flowers and flower buds (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

flowers subtended by leafy bracts (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

close-up of flower (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

close-up of leaf fork, with cluster of small bulb-like structures (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

Moraea miniata

Scientific Name

Moraea miniata Andrews

Synonyms

Homeria miniata (Andrews) Sweet

Family

Iridaceae

Common Names

Cape tulip, poison bulb, red tulip, two leaf Cape tulip, two-leaf Cape tulip, two-leaf Cape-tulip, two-leaved Cape tulip

Origin

Native to southern Africa (i.e. Cape Province in South Africa).

Cultivation

Like many other South African bulbous plants with attractive flowers, this species has been widely cultivated as a garden ornamental in the temperate regions of Australia.

Naturalised Distribution

Two-leaf Cape tulip (Moraea miniata) is widely naturalised in southern Australia (i.e. in south-western Western Australia, south-eastern and southern South Australia, Victoria and some parts of eastern and southern New South Wales).

Habitat

A weed of pastures, open woodlands, grasslands, wetland margins, roadsides, parks, disturbed sites, waste areas and crops in temperate and occasionally also semi-arid regions.

Habit

An upright (i.e. erect) herbaceous plant with long-lived (i.e. perennial) underground 'bulbs' (i.e. corms) and short-lived (i.e. annual) stems and leaves. It usually grows 30-60 cm tall.

Distinguishing Features

Stems and Leaves

The green stems are upright (i.e. erect) and sometimes slightly zig-zagging in nature. These stems are rounded, hairless (i.e. glabrous), and have a few branches near the top of the plant.

Usually only two, but sometimes three and rarely up to five, leaves are produced per plant. These large strap-like (i.e. linear) leaves (20-100 cm long and 5-15 mm wide) sheath the base of the stem. They are hairless (i.e. glabrous), slightly ribbed, and folded when young. Small bulb-like structures (i.e. cormils) about 2-4 mm long are formed in the forks (i.e. axils) of these leaves after flowering. There are also some smaller green leafy bracts (3-5 cm long) towards the top of the stems.

Flowers and Fruit

The flowers (3-5 cm across) are borne at the ends of the branches and have six relatively broad 'petals' (i.e. tepals or perianth segments) 13-25 mm long. These flowers are usually salmon pink or orange in colour with a yellow centre. At the base of each flower are two elongated green floral bracts (3-6 cm long) which may be mistaken for sepals. Each flower also has three stamens with small yellow anthers (about 2 mm long) and an ovary topped with a three-branched style. Flowering occurs mostly during late winter and early spring (i.e. from August to October).

The fruit is a small green capsule that turns brown in colour as it matures. However, this elongated capsule (about 15 mm long) does not produce any viable seeds.

Reproduction and Dispersal

This species reproduces vegetatively by corms and also produces large numbers of small bulb-like structures (i.e. cormils or bulbils) in the leaf forks (i.e. axils), at the base of the underground corms, and sometimes also at the base of the dying flowers. Mature corms (10-25 mm across) are white with a hard black covering.

These corms are spread by machinery and contaminated agricultural produce and also during the cultivation of paddocks.

Environmental Impact

Two-leaf Cape tulip (Moraea miniata) is regarded as a significant environmental weed in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, and was recently listed as a priority environmental weed in at least one Natural Resource Management region.

Other Impacts

 

Legislation

This species is declared under legislation in the following states and territories:

Management

For information on the management of this species see the following resources:

Similar Species

Two-leaf Cape tulip (Moraea miniata) is similar to one-leaf Cape tulip (Moraea flaccida) and two other less common species of Cape tulips (i.e. Moraea collina and Moraea ochroleuca). These species can be distinguished by the following differences: