Moraea flaccida

Cooke (1986) notes that some of the Australian material referred to M. flaccida resembles the closely related species, M. collina. In M. flaccida the narrow basal parts of the perianth spread outwards and slightly upwards, whereas those of M. collina are suberect; M. flaccida is more robust and more branched than M. collina; the outer perianth parts are 3.5–4 cm long (in M. collina they seldom exceed 3.5 cm long); the staminal filaments are 6–8 mm long with the anthers up to 11 mm long, whereas the filaments of M. collina are 6–7 mm long and the anthers are 5–6 mm long; the capsule of M. flaccida has a beak-like point about 2 mm long, whereas the point of M. collina is about 1 mm long.

Australian populations have been derived from horticultural populations and may now represent a hybrid continuum between the above 2 species (Cooke 1986). However, Goldblatt (1981) noted that hybrids between the two species (in South Africa) are sterile. Several specimens appear to have features which are intermediate between these two species.