*Romulea rosea

Family Iridaceae

Onion Grass

Small perennial herb, with roundish corm, without aerial stems, leaves basal. Longevity indefinite.

Flowers: Pink, August – November.

Fruit: Cylindrical capsule, 10 mm long.

Seed: Numerous seeds per capsule. Locally dispersed.

Gallery images: seed, seedling, rootstock, resprout

Ecology

• Native of South Africa.
• Weed of grasslands, pastures, roadsides and gardens.
• Frequent in grasslands at the Australian Botanic Garden.
• Purple swamphens Porphyrio porphyrio reportedly feed on corms in autumn and winter.
• Long-billed Corellas Cacatua tenuirostris feed on the corms.
• Resprouts after fire (flowered 3 weeks after controlled burn 2005).

Asterisk * indicates exotic species naturalised at the Australian Botanic Garden.