Duthieastrum is a monotypic genus of deciduous cormous perennials in the Iridaceae family found in central South Africa. It is a sister genus to Sparaxis. You see several different spellings for this genus when searching for information about it. It was spelled Duthiastrum De Vos when it was published in 1975, but since it is named in honor of Miss Duthie that original spelling is to be treated as an orthographic error and corrected to Duthieastrum.
Duthieastrum linifolium is restricted to central South Africa. The long-lived long tubed yellow flowers are produced in the autumn and open in the early afternoon and close shortly after dark each day. Like some Crocus this plant has an underground stem and the ovary remains underground during flowering. As the seeds mature, the underground stem elongates and raises the capsules above ground. Photo from iNaturalist taken by juddkirkel east of Johannesburg in March and shared under a CC BY-NC license.
