Citation: N.E. Br., Trans. R. Soc. S. Afr. 20:272 (1932).

Derivation: Greek chasme, gaping; anthos, flower; referring to the shape of the perianth.

Synonymy: Antholyza L., Sp. Pl. 37 (1753), partly; Petamenes Salisb., Trans. Hort. Soc. London 1:324 (1812), partly. (M.P. de Vos (1985) S. Afr. J. Bot. 51:253-261).

Common name: None

Description:
Large deciduous perennial herbs dormant in summer; corm annual, depressed-globose, with a tunic of coarse fibres; leaves numerous, basal, equitant, flat, sword-shaped, glabrous.

Scape erect, terete, robust; spike distichous; flowers sessile, zygomorphic, solitary in each spathe; bracts short, paired, subequal; perianth tube narrow below, abruptly widened into a longer curved cylindric portion; lobes shorter than the tube, unequal, the dorsal one longest and hooded; stamens inserted on the tube, free, unilateral; anthers versatile; style branches 3, entire, filiform, recurved.

Capsule depressed-globose; seeds few, globose.

Distribution:  3 species in South Africa, 1 naturalised in Australia.

Biology: No text

Author: Not yet available