New species of Iridaceae from the Hantam-Roggeveld Centre of Endemism, and the Bokkeveld, Northern Cape, South Africa

Three new species of Iridaceae are described from the Bokkeveld and Roggeveld Escarpments. Ixia amethystina, a member of section Dichone, is endemic to the edge of the Roggeveld Escarpment. It shares an unusual, inclined spike that is nodding in bud with L trifolia but is distinguished by its blackish purple (not yellow) anthers, narrower leaves 1.5-2.0 mm wide, medium-textured corm tunics that form a distinct neck at the base of the stem, and short style branches 2.0-2.5 mm long. Moraea marginata, another Roggeveld endemic, is a member of section Polyanthes and florally similar to M. fistulosa and M. monticola but differs in its linear, channelled leaves 5-7 mm wide, with unusual, thickened margins. Romulea singularis, from the edge of the Kobee River Valley in the Bokkeveld Mountains, is a member of section Ciliatae. It is unique in the genus in its narrowly finnel-shaped, mauve to purple flowers with slender perianth tube 10-11 mm, long, and unusually long filaments, 8-9 mm long, inserted in the lower half of the tube.