A new find - Romulea ramiflora | Vote for a witness!

When I thought that I already saw all the spring blooming flowers around and photographed them, I found this little one.
I have never saw it before in any of the locations before and I did go to this place many times. Now as I was walking around I saw this one tine purple flower growing almost directly from the sand.
Then another... and another.. and it was like there were always there I just didn't see them.

Romulea ramiflora

Romulea ramiflora also called Sand Crocus belong to the Iris family. I found it growing near the coast in a very sandy sail. Their blooming season is not and I think I managed to catch in their peak. That also explains why I never saw it before. I usually go to check on the spring flowers much later, so I simply miss them.

I found a cool map online about its habitat. I always find it interesting to see where a certain plant can be found.

_source

The flowers very pretty small, maybe 2 cm across and just a few cm tall. They do grow up from the soil like crocuses do, on a very short stem. It reminds me a flower of one of my cactus. Similar shape and purple colour with very delicate petals.
Leaves are long and thin like grass laying down on the soil. Not many of them on each plant and they look pretty messy. Underground they hide little bulb that will store all the nutrients needed to survive the though the hot summer and still have enough energy to grow next year.
The place where I found them had some wildfires few years back. But all those bulbous plants survived even though everything above the ground got burned to a crisp. Good to see them all pop like if nothing happened.

I found another larger group of them closer to some bushes among grasses and moss. You can see the little moss spores around - that will give an idea of the size of the flowers. Itsy bitsy things.
In a few weeks they will stop blooming and I will not see them until next year. But now I know I have to go early in the year to find them. I have to say that they are very beautiful little things.

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_{Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
All photos and text are my own.}

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