Moraea MM 16-91

Seed parent: MM 12-121 (M. tripetala X loubseri)
Pollen parent: MM 12-122a (villosa X tulbaghensis)

MM 16-91a. I wasn't sure what to expect from this cross. Three of the grandparents are purple and one is orange; sometimes that produces interesting mauvey flowers. Not so this time, and in fact at first glance the flower is pretty undistinguished.

But look more closely: The tepals are not a uniform color, they're actually veined in very dark purple. The eye is boring, but I like the narrow white rim around it. And look very carefully at the style crests in the middle -- they're actually light turquoise, a color that you rarely see in Moraea flowers outside of M. aristata. So how did it get here? I don't know, but it's really interesting.

MM 16-91b. If you scroll back and forth between this one and form a, you can really see how much color there is in the style crests of form a.