Moraea
(named after R. Moore, an English botanist). Including Vieusseuxia. ORD. Irideae. A genus comprising about forty species of hardy, or nearly hardy, bulbous plants, mostly natives of the Cape of Good Hope. They are closely allied to Iris. Flowers lilac or yellow, usually very brilliant, sweet-scented; perianth with three broad spreading or reflexed outer segments, and three narrower inner ones; stamens three, distinct; style slender, bearing three petal-like bifid or merely multifid stigmas opposite the stamens. Leaves few, narrow. The following is a selection of the species best known to cultivation; they are natives of the Cape, except where otherwise stated. Some of the species make very beautiful objects, when planted out in the cool conservatory. For culture, &c., see Iris.
M. bicolor (two-coloured). fl. yellow; outer perianth segments with a dark blackish-brown blotch at the base; scape erect, many-flowered, branching. Summer. l. pale green, narrow, ensiform, about 2ft. long. h. 2ft. (B. R. 1404; L. B. C. 1886, under name of Iris bicolor.) M. bituminosa (bituminous). fl. yellow. April and May. l., lower ones spirally twisted. Stem smooth. Branches viscid. h. 1ft. 1787. (B. M. 1045.) M. bulbifera (bulb-bearing). A synonym of M. ramosa. M. crispa (curled). fl. blue; segments spreading, the alternate ones smaller.