{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{Speciesbox |image = |image_caption = |parent_authority = U.Müll.-Doblies & D.Müll.-Doblies |taxon = Namophila urotepala |authority = U.Müll.-Doblies & D.Müll.-Doblies }}
'''''Namophila''''' is a monotypic genus of bulbous flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae (also treated as the family Hyacinthaceae).<ref name=APweb_Scilloideae>Stevens, P.F. (2001 onwards), "[http://www.mobot.org/mobot/research/apweb/orders/asparagalesweb.htm#Hyacinthaceae Asparagales: Scilloideae]", ''Angiosperm Phylogeny Website'', retrieved 2014-02-25</ref> The sole species '''''Namophila urotepala''''' is endemic to Namibia.<ref name=WCSP_282363>{{Citation |title=''Namophila''|work=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=282363 |accessdate=2013-04-08}}</ref>
==Description==
''Namophila urotepala'' grows from an underground bulb, which has a dark brown papery tunic. The bulb produces only two somewhat succulent leaves which spread out on the ground on either side. The flowers are produced in a several-flowered raceme borne on a very short stem so that the inflorescence is at ground level. At the top of the inflorescence is a tuft of bracts. Individual flowers are more-or-less upright, bell-shaped with fused greenish-white tepals which end in a thin "tail". The stamens are also more-or-less upright, with their filaments joined to the mouth of the tubular part of the tepals. The fruiting capsule remains enclosed in the tepals. The black seeds are somewhat globular.<ref name=MannGoldFay04>{{Citation |last=Manning |first=J.C. |last2=Goldblatt |first2=P. |last3=Fay |first3=M.F. |year=2004 |title=A revised generic synopsis of Hyacintheaceae in sub-Saharan Africa, based on molecular evidence, including new combinations and the new tribe Pseudoprospereae |journal=Edinburgh Journal of Botany |volume=60 |issue=3 |pages=533–568 |doi=10.1017/S0960428603000404 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
''Namophila urotepala'' is found only in the mountains of southern Namibia, in arid areas with winter rainfall.<ref name=MannGoldFay04/>
==Systematics==
The genus and species were named by Ute Müller-Doblies and Dietrich Müller-Doblies in 1997.<ref name=WCSP_282363/> Placed in the tribe Hyacintheae (or subfamily Hyacinthoideae by those who use the family Hyacinthaceae), ''Namophila'' is most closely related to ''Lachenalia''.<ref name=MannGoldFay04/>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q14755057|from2=Q15523548}}
Category:Monotypic Asparagaceae genera Category:Scilloideae