Browneye Capestar

Spiloxene canaliculata

At the height of the Cape's spring season, species of the genus Spiloxene offer flower seekers fine displays of brilliant, floral stars.

Plants 100-350 mm tall; corm with a cap of short, hard bristles. Leaves 2-5, recurved, 2-4 mm wide, U-shaped in cross-section, margin bearing minute teeth when young. Flower 1 per scape; tepals 25-45 mm long, orange to yellow with a dark purple, non-iridescent centre, backs with reddish stripes; bract 1, long, green, tightly sheathing the pedicel. Seeds J-shaped. Flowering July to October. Localised on seasonally wet, clay flats near Darling.