The superb Ixia

From last weeks press release: Type specimen for Ixia superba. It is an as rare as beautiful relative to the crocuses, only known from a restricted area of a few acres in South Africa. It was described as a new species only less than ten years ago. The Swedish Museum of Natural History has one of the most valuable herbarium collection of South African plants in the world, including nearly 6000 type specimens. The earliest are from the 18th Century, when the Cape province was visited by Linnaeus’ disciples Carl Peter Thunberg and Anders Sparrman.

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