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Taxonomy

Physical Description

Family Iridaceae:

Herbs perennial (or shrubs or annuals), with rhizomes, bulbs, or corms. Leaves alternate, often 2-ranked, often oriented edgewise to aerial stem, usually sword-shaped to linear, parallel veined, base sheathing. Inflorescence sometimes a spike or reduced to a solitary flower, more often of monochasial, umbellate cymes, each enclosed in 2 opposed bracts (spathes) and termed a rhipidium, which may be solitary and terminal or numerous and variously arranged in racemes or panicles; bracts 1 to several. Flowers bisexual, showy, usually actinomorphic (often zygomorphic elsewhere) . Perianth segments 6, in 2 whorls, inner and outer ones equal or differing in size and/or color; tube filiform or trumpet-shaped. Stamens (2 or) 3; anthers extrorse. Ovary inferior (or superior), 3-loculed; ovules few to many; placentation axile. Style with filiform, slender, or petaloid branches. Fruit a loculicidal capsule. Seeds with or without aril and wings.

Between 70 and 80 genera and ca. 1800 species: nearly worldwide, especially S Africa, Asia, and Europe; three genera and 61 species (21 endemic, one introduced) in China.^[1]

Similar Species

Members of the genus Babiana:

There are approximately 173 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them: B. 'Blue Gem' · B. 'Laura' · B. 'Purple Star' · B. 'White King' · B. 'Zwanenburg's Glory' · B. adpressa · B. ambigua · B. angusta · B. angustifolia (Baboon Flower) · B. arenicola · B. atrocyanea · B. atrodeltoidea · B. attenuata · B. auriculata · B. bainesii · B. bakeri · B. blanda · B. brachystachys · B. buchubergensis · B. caerulescens · B. caesia · B. carminea · B. cedarbergensis (Baboon Flower) · B. cinnamomea · B. confusa · B. crispa · B. cuneata · B. cuneifolia · B. curviscapa · B. densiflora · B. disticha · B. dregei · B. ecklonii · B. engysiphon · B. erectifolia · B. falcata · B. fastigiata · B. fimbriata · B. flabellifolia · B. flavida · B. flavocaesia · B. foliosa · B. fourcadei · B. fragrans · B. framesii · B. framesii var. kamiesbergensis · B. gariepensis · B. gawleri · B. geniculata · B. gladiola · B. grandiflora · B. hiemalis · B. horizontalis · B. hybrids · B. hypogaea · B. hypogala · B. hypogea · B. inclinata · B. intermedia · B. karooica · B. klaverensis · B. lanata · B. lapeirousioides · B. lata · B. latifolia · B. leipoldtii · B. lewisiana · B. lilacina · B. lineolata · B. lobata · B. longibracteata · B. longicollis · B. longiflora · B. macrantha · B. maculata · B. melanops · B. minuta · B. mononeura · B. montana · B. mucronata · B. mucronata subsp. minor · B. mucronata var. minor · B. multiflora · B. namaquensis · B. nana (Baboon Flower) · B. nana subsp. maculata · B. nana var. confusa · B. nervosa · B. noctiflora · B. obliqua · B. obtusifolia · B. occidentalis · B. ochroleuca · B. odorata · B. orthosantha · B. papyracea · B. parviflora · B. patersoneae · B. patersoniae · B. patula

Bibliography

• Zhao Yu-tang. 1985. Iridaceae. In: Pei Chien & Ting Chih-tsun, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 16(1): 120--198.

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Notes

Identifiers:

• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 3880979

Footnotes:

1. Yu-tang Zhao, Henry J. Noltie & Brian F. Mathew "Iridaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 24 Page 297. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.