Citation: Ker Gawler, Ann. Bot.(Koenig & Sims) 1:225 (1804).

Derivation: Greek sparasso I tear; referring to the lacerate spathes.

Synonymy: Not Applicable

Common name: Sparaxis.

Description:
Deciduous perennial herbs, dormant in summer; corm globose, with a fibrous tunic; leaves several, mostly basal, equitant, flat, lanceolate to linear, glabrous.

Scape erect, terete, wiry, simple or few-branched; spike loose, flexuose, few-flowered; flowers sessile, actinomorphic, erect, solitary in each spathe; bracts paired, subequal, lacerate at the apex, scarious, brown-streaked; perianth tube straight, funnel-shaped; lobes longer than the tube, equal, erect to spreading; stamens inserted on the tube, free, equilateral or unilateral; anthers basifixed, included; style filiform; style branches 3, entire, recurved, hardly dilated.

Capsule obovoid, membranous; seeds numerous, globose, smooth. (P. Goldblatt (1969) JI S. Afr. Bot. 35:219-252.)

Distribution:  6 species native to south-western Cape Province, South Africa; 2 of them naturalised in Australia.

Biology: No text

Key to Species:

1. Spathe bracts deeply lacerate with spreading subulate cusps; stamens unilateral	S. bulbifera 1.
1. Spathe bracts ovate, slightly lacerate; stamens equilateral	S. tricolor 2.

Author: Not yet available