Geissorhiza species m-z are found on this wiki page. See the links below for information about this genus and other species.
Geissorhiza index - Geissorhiza species a-g - Geissorhiza species h-l
Geissorhiza mathewsii L.Bolus grows on wet sandy flats in the Southwest Cape near Darling. It has violet flowers with a bright red center and is very rare. It is very similar to Geissorhiza eurystigma, but smaller with a shorter style and often a white band between the violet and red. Photo by Mary Sue Ittner of a plant in cultivation that did not return.
Geissorhiza monanthos Eckl. is another beautiful one from the north and southwest Cape where it is found on sandy slopes and granite outcrops. Photos by Sheila Burrow and Mary Sue Ittner. The last shows the corms (on a 1 cm square grid) that are often surrounded by small offsets that will become flowering plants in years to come.
The first two photos by Mary Sue Ittner are of a wonderful display seen in Darling in September 2006. The third photo was taken by Andrew Harvie between Kalbaskraal and Malmesbury. The last photo by Cameron McMaster was taken near Darling.
Geissorhiza nana Klatt grows on clay slopes and flats in renosterveld from Caledon to Riversdale. It grows from 5 to 7 cm high and has tiny white flowers and blooms in spring. Photo by Cameron McMaster taken in the Overberg.
Geissorhiza nigromontana Goldblatt is found in wet areas, such as stream banks and waterfalls in the Swartberg Mountains. Growing from 10 to 16 cm high, it has leaves that lie flat on the ground and blue-purple flowers with a short tube. Unlike most other Geissorhiza species, plants often produce small corms along the base of the stem. It flowers January to February. The photo below from the book Plants of the Klein Karoo courtesy of Jan and Anne Lise Schutte-Vlok.
Geissorhiza ornithogaloides Klatt is found mostly on clay or granitic flats and lower slopes, but sometimes in thin, rocky, sandstone in the winter rainfall area of the Cape Province. It only opens on warm sunny days so we have two pictures of it. One is how it looks when the sun is not out and one when it is. The first two photos by Bob Rutemoeller of plants grown from Silverhill Seed. Several years later the plants are even more floriferous. The last photo shows the corms on a 1 cm grid. Photos by Mary Sue Ittner.
Habitat photos shown below. The first was taken at Boskloof by Cameron McMaster. The second photo is from the book Plants of the Klein Karoo courtesy of Jan and Anne Lise Schutte-Vlok. The last two photos were taken near Villiersdorp in August 2006 by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner.
Geissorhiza ovata (Burm.f.) Asch. & Graebn. grows on sandstone slopes and flats in the northwest and southwest Cape and flowers in late winter-early spring. It flowers well after a fire. It has prostrate lanceolate to ovate leaves and white to pale pink flowers that are pink on the reverse and reddish at the base. The first two photos by Bob Rutemoeller show plants in flower in September 2003. The first one was flowering in fynbos at Boskloof and this second one was found growing near Paarl. Notice the red markings at the base. The third photo was taken by Cameron McMaster in Napier in the Overberg and the fourth photo was taken by Alan Horstmann. The last two photos were taken September 2006 at Bainskloof by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner.
Photos taken in the Phillipskop Mountain Reserve near Stanford, where they grow on sandy fynbos slopes. First photo by Christopher Whitehouse. Next three photos by Michael Mace.
Geissorhiza pseudinaequalis Goldblatt grows from 9 to 30 cm high and is found on mountain slopes and cliffs in shady damp spots in the Southwestern Cape. It has linear leaves and blue to violet flowers with unequal stamens in a 3 to 7 flowered spike. It flowers late spring to summer, mainly October-December. Photo from Rod Saunders.
Geissorhiza purpureolutea Baker is found on wet, sandy gravel flats on the coastal plain mostly in the southwestern Cape, but some populations are in the northwestern Cape. Flowers are cream to pale yellow with a brown or purple center. Sometimes the reverse of the outer tepals is red. Photo by Alan Horstmann.
Geissorhiza radians (Thunb.) Goldblatt is one of the most sought after species of the genus. It is found in sandy or granitic soils along streams and in damp places in the southwest Cape, between Darling and Paarl. One common name is "wynkelkie". The first four photos are from Mary Sue Ittner and Bob Rutemoeller who saw a field of them near Darling in September 2006. The last two photos were taken by Cameron McMaster near Darling.
Photo 1 by Sheila Burrow shows a flower covered in pollen. Photos 2-3 were from Bill Dijk, photo 4 was from Bob Rutemoeller, and photos 5-6 were from Nhu Nguyen showing closeups of the buds and the back of the flowers.
Geissorhiza roseoalba (G.J.Lewis) Goldblatt, syn. Engysiphon roseoalbus (G.J.Lewis) G.J.Lewis, is found on sandstone soils on dry, rocky slopes in fynbos from the Little Karoo to the Eastern Cape. Growing from 15 to 35 cm high, it has narrow sword shaped leaves with thickened margins and midrib and one to three large pale pink flowers suffused with darker pink with reddish purple markings on the tepal bases and pink on the reverse. It flowers August to September, mostly after fire. The photos below from the book Plants of the Klein Karoo courtesy of Jan and Anne Lise Schutte-Vlok.
Geissorhiza schinzii (Baker) Goldblatt, syn. Engysiphon schinzii (Baker) G.J.Lewis, grows on stony sandstone slopes in the southwestern Cape where it flowers in spring, mostly following a fire. Photos were taken by Cameron McMaster at Boskloof and Houwhoek.
Geissorhiza splendidissima Diels grows around Nieuwoudtville in the Bokkeveld Plateau in the northwest Cape, in clay soils. The first two photos were taken by Bob Rutemoeller of a garden plant and a pot Gordon Summerfield was growing in South Africa. The third is from Alan Horstmann and the last two photos by Mary Sue Ittner show flowers and corms placed on 1 cm squares to tell the size.
This species was seen blooming near Nieuwoudtville September 2006 with Sparaxis elegans. Photos by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner.
Geissorhiza spp. The first one was photographed by Bob Rutemoeller from Rossouw Malherbe's collection in South Africa. It could be Geissorhiza schinzii or Geissorhiza brevituba, but is certainly a species in what was formerly the genus Engysiphon. Another unknown species was seen by Roy Herold in the hills above Muizenburg, south of Cape Town, in October 2002. It could be Geissorhiza aspera, but that species is usually darker in color and blooms earlier. Another possibility is Geissorhiza pusilla which is pale to deep blue or blue-mauve and has smaller flowers. It is relatively uncommon however. Or perhaps a purple Geissorhiza inflexa. The last was photographed near Darling September 2006 by Mary Sue Ittner and could also be Geissorhiza aspera.
Geissorhiza sulphurascens Schltr. ex R.C.Foster grows on wet sandy flats in the northwest Cape. The small white to cream flowers are in a 4 to 10 flowered spike. Photos from iNaturalist taken by Vera Frith and Corné Rautenbach in September and October near Nieuwoudtville and shared under a CC BY-NC license.
Geissorhiza tenella Goldblatt, syn. Engysiphon roseus (Schinz) G.J.Lewis, grows in sandy flats and plateaus from the Cape Peninsula to Cape Infanta. It blooms in mid- to late spring. Photographed by Christopher Whitehouse in the Phillipskop Mountain Reserve near Stanford.
Geissorhiza tulbaghensis F.Bolus is found on clay flats and banks in the north and southwest Cape between Wellington and Porterville, and in the Tulbagh valley. It is becoming rare as its home range is converted to agriculture. It reportedly has hybridized with G. aspera and G. inflexa where they grow together on a farm near Porterville. Photos by Sheila Burrow, Alan Horstmann, Mary Sue Ittner, Rimmer de Vries (grown from Silverhill seed) and Margaret Fox (grown by Jim Holmes in South Africa).
Geissorhiza index - Geissorhiza species a-g - Geissorhiza species h-l