In 1889 a good coloured plate of this plant was reproduced in the Botanical Magazine. The plate was prepared from plants sent to Kew by the late Dr. Medley Wood, and which flowered freely there in the open. Anoiganthus breviflorus is readily distinguished from species of Cyrtanthus (species of which we figured in earlier plates) by having basifixed, not versatile anthers. It is a fairly widely distributed species, being found as far south as Somerset East, and spreading northward through the eastern parts of the Cape Province into Natal, Zululand, Basutoland, Swaziland and to Broken Hill, N.W. Rhodesia. The same yellow colour of the flowers is found in species of Cyrtanthus, but specimens with white flowers have been recorded.
The species does quite well in cultivation, and in its native habitat thrives in swampy and marshy ground.
Our plate was prepared from plants collected near Springfield (Durban), Natal.
[There appears to be a second and quite distinct species (A. luteus Baker) of this interesting little genus, though Baker in the Flora Capensis treated it as a variety. That it is distinct enough to be regarded as a species was very strongly supported by the late Dr. J. Medley Wood. According to him A. breviflorus grows in swampy ground, commencing at about 1500 ft. above sea level, and is found upwards to 4000 ft. He observed it occasionally to 4 ft. in height, but the average was 2 to 3 ft. On the other hand, A. luteus appears on grassy hills and plains from just above[{100}] sea level to 2000 ft., but never in swamps. During the flowering stage it is rarely more than about 1 ft. high, but afterwards, in fruit, the scape lengthens considerably and often attains 2 ft. in length. These observations by Dr. Wood are confirmed by a critical examination of the specimens at Kew. The flowers and leaves appear to be always contemporaneous in A. breviflorus, but in A. luteus the flowers appear first and the leaves are very small. Further notes by Natal botanists would be welcome.—J. H.]
Description:—Bulb ovoid, white, 2 to 3 cm. in diameter, with a short neck and brown membranous tunics. Leaves 3 to 4, contemporary with the flowers, 4 to 30 cm. long, 7 to 14 mm. broad, strap-shaped, obtuse, strongly-nerved, glabrous. Peduncle 8 to 20 cm. long, about 4 mm. in diameter, slender, erect. Spathe-valves 4 to 5 cm. long, 4 mm. broad at the base lanceolate. Pedicels 2 to 4 cm. long, erect. Inflorescence a 2-to 10-flowered umbel. Perianth-tube 5 mm. long; lobes 15 mm. long, lanceolate, acute. Stamens included, in 2 series; anthers basifixed. Ovary glabrous; style slender; stigmas 3, overtopping the stamens.
Plate 144.—Fig. 1, perianth laid open; Fig. 2, stamens; Fig. 3, cross-section of ovary; Fig. 4, style-branches.
F.P.S.A., 1924.