Romulea sabulosa [Satynblom]

[nfoto]

Rørslett, B. 2022. Romulea sabulosa Schltr. ex Bég. Iridaceae. Satynblom. South-African flowers photographed in ultraviolet (UV) and visible light. LINK

 

Satynblom (Afrikaans) = Satin Flower

 

The genus Romulea is widely distributed in Mediterranean and African regions.  They comprise early-flowering small geophytes, preferably growing on dry soils with a sparse vegetation cover.

 

Many of these species are endemic, of which Romulea sabulosa is a prime example. R. sabulosa is exclusively found near  Nieuwoudtville in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Here it adds to the often spectacular spring flowering on the steppe-like fields. The flowers are strongly red, with green stamens and black internal marks on the corolla. The foliage is threadlike and withers quite soon. The plant survives by its subterranean corm.

 

 

 

The dry open plains teem with a high diversity of colourful geophytes, many of which are annual or short-lived perennials. The bright red flowers of R. sabulosa makes it stand out in the open vegetation. It occurs together with other Romulea species, small composite flower (Cotula, Felicia, etc.) and a raft of other species.

 

 

A close-up of a flower,

 

 

The flower seen in ultraviolet (UV) light,

 

 

Here is the field of flowers seen in UV through an 18mm wide-angle lens.

 

 

(The 18mm f/4 Nikkor is not transmitting deep into UV thus the UV-false colours appear more muted than what the Coastal 60mm f/4 APO delivers. All UV images taken with Nikon D3200 with internal Baader U filter.)

 

All images on this page are copyright Birna Rørslett and cannot be used without explicit permission from the author.

 

[colinbm]

That would be spectacular to see.

[Andy Perrin]

The UV rendition of this flower is particularly lovely!

[Andrea B.]

That photo of all the different wildflowers is just wonderful !! The Romulea is stunning (vis version). Wish I could grow that here.