Keyed Out #101 — Diplarrena moraea

Question 1

Stiff sword-shaped blades rise straight from the base set edge-on in two ranks, each clasping the one above, so the clump reads as a flat fan rather than a leafy tuft.

Accepted Answer

iris family

Question 2

The swelling seed pod sits below the six {tepals}, not above them, and ripens three-angled before splitting into three.

Accepted Answer

Iridaceae

Question 3

Look into the throat: just two {anthers} are loaded with pollen, while the third {stamen} is reduced to a short bare {filament} carrying nothing at all.

Accepted Answer

Diplarrena

Question 4

The three inner {tepals} are substantial — roughly two-thirds the length of the outer three and raised as a marked crest — not shrunk to inconspicuous scales beneath a large spreading outer whorl.

Accepted Answer

Diplarrena

Question 5

The blades stay narrow, no more than about 0.4 inch (1 cm) across, rather than broadening to twice that on a sub-alpine Tasmanian clump.

Accepted Answer

Diplarrena moraea

Question 6

Above the centre of the flower the {style} stays slender and thread-fine; it never broadens into three pale violet petal-like arms posing as an extra whorl of petals.

Accepted Answer

Diplarrena moraea