Moraea 'Zoe'

This spectacular flower was named by Bill Dijk of New Zealand, after botanical artist Zoe Carter. He discovered it growing in a cultivated stand of Moraea villosa plants. It may be a variant of M. villosa or may be a garden hybrid. There are some good arguments for hybrid, based on plant characteristics, but a very similar plant was photographed in the wild in South Africa by noted nature photographer Colin Paterson-Jones (you can see the photo here).

Bill shared some corms of Zoe with Mary Sue Ittner of the Pacific Bulb Society, who has in turn shared them with others. In Mary Sue's garden the plants have set seeds, which grew to flowering size. These Zoe offspring have an altered pattern of dots and a darker eye.

I have some offspring that were shared by Mary Sue, and a couple of corms that appear to be the original Zoe, or something much like it. Photos of the apparently-original form are above. Here are a couple of the offspring (note the darker eyes and sparser streaks):

Moraea 'Zoe' offspring