Iridaceae

Watsonia fulgens, copyright Stan Shebs.

Belongs within: Petrosaviidae.
Contains: Crocus, Moraea, Romulea, Patersonia, Iris, Sisyrinchium, Ixieae.

The Iridaceae are a family of seasonal plants, most diverse in southern Africa. Many species in the family are popular ornamentals. The rootstock of members of this family is often a corm, as in Crocus or Watsonia, or a rhizome as in Iris or Sisyrinchium. Representatives include the genus Watsonia in which numerous solitary flowers with bifid style-branches are borne on robust flowering stems, up to 180 cm tall (Healy & Edgar 1980).

Characters (from Healy & Edgar 1980): Perennial, rarely annual, glabrous, rarely pubescent herbs with rhizomes, corms and bulbs. Leaves often crowded at base of sten, mostly narrow-linear, flattened at sides, sheathing and equitant at base. Flowers bisexual, actinomorphic to completely zygomorphic, in spikes, racemes or panicles, sometimes solitary, enclosed 1-several within two spathe-valves consisting of a bract and more membranous bracteole. Perianth petaloid, more or less marcescent; segments 6, connate basally into tube or occasionally free, more or less similar or three outer different in shape, size or colour from inner. Stamens 3, symmetrically placed in actinomorphic flowers, slightly irregularly placed, asymmetric, in zygomorphic flowers; filaments free or partly connate; anther bilocular, opening extrorsely or laterally by longitudinal slits. Ovary inferior, usually trilocular with axile placentae; style three-lobed in upper part, branches entire to deeply lobed, sometimes winged and petaloid, stigmatose at the top or within. Capsules loculicidally dehiscent. Seeds few to many.

<==Iridaceae [Iridales, Iridineae]
    |--Isophysis LC95
    |--+--+--Geosiris LC95
    |  |  `--Aristea ecklonii Baker 1877 LC95, HE80
    |  `--+--Patersonia LC95
    |     `--+--Nivenia LC95
    |        `--+--Klattia LC95
    |           `--Witsenia LC95
    `--+--+--+--Iris LC95
       |  |  `--+--Mariceae LC95
       |  |     `--Trigidieae LC95
       |  `--+--Bobartia spathacea LC95, B78 [incl. Xyris altissima B78]
       |     `--+--Diplarrhenia LC95
       |        `--Sisyrinchium LC95
       `--+--Pillansieae LC95
          `--+--Ixieae LC95
             `--Watsonia DE06 [Watsonieae LC95]
                  |--W. ardernei Sander 1899 HE80
                  |--W. bulbillifera Mathews & Bolus 1922 HE80
                  |--W. fulgens [incl. W. angusta] HE80
                  |--W. marginata Ker-Gawler 1802 HE80
                  |--W. meriana (Linnaeus) Miller 1768 HE80
                  `--W. tabularis DE06

Iridaceae incertae sedis:
  Schizostylis coccinea Backhouse & Harvey 1864 HE80
  Freesia HE80
    |--F. caryophyllacea ERV99
    |--F. fergusoniae ERV99
    `--F. refracta (von Jacquin) Klatt 1866 HE80
  Dietes bicolor HE80
  Neomarica DS04
    |--N. gracilis MM96
    `--N. northiana DS04
  Dierama HE80
    |--D. pendulum (Linnaeus) Baker 1877 HE80
    `--D. pulcherrimum HE80
  Gynandriris HE80
    |--G. pritzeliana ERV99
    |--G. setifolia HE80
    `--G. sisyrinchium PT98
  Sparaxis HE80
    |--S. bulbifera (Linnaeus) Ker-Gawler in Koenig & Sims 1804 HE80
    |--S. caryophyllacea ERV99
    |--S. grandiflora H93
    `--S. tricolor (Schneevogt) Ker-Gawler in Koening & Sims 1804 HE80
  Tritonia HE80
    |--T. crocata (Linnaeus) Ker-Gawler 1802 HE80
    `--T. lineata (Salisbury) Ker-Gawler in Koenig & Sims 1804 HE80
  Orthrosanthus laxus OS04
    |--O. l. var. laxus OS04
    `--O. l. var. gramineus OS04
  Ferraria CV06
    |--F. macrochlamys N06
    `--F. schaeferi CV06
  Babiana HE80
    |--B. longicollis CV06
    |--B. spiralis N06
    `--B. stricta Ker-Gawler 1803 HE80
  Homeria HE80
    |--H. breyniana (n. d.) HE80
    |--H. collina (Thunberg) Ventenat 1808 HE80
    `--H. flaccida GK00
  Chasmanthe HE80
    |--C. aethiopica (see below for synonymy) HE80
    |--C. bicolor (Gasparrini) Brown 1932 HE80
    `--C. floribunda (Salisbury) Brown 1932 HE80
  Lapeirousia GE05
    |--L. anceps GE05
    |--L. avasmontana CV06
    |--L. gracilis CV06
    `--L. laxa HE80
  Crocosmia HE80
    |--C. aurea HE80
    |--C. × crocosmiiflora (Nicholson) Brown 1932 [C. aurea × C. pottsii] HE80
    |--C. paniculata (Klatt) Goldblatt 1971 HE80
    `--C. pottsii HE80
  Libertia Spreng. 1824 (nom. cons.) ME70
    |--*L. ixioides (Forst. f.) Spreng. 1824 ME70 (see below for synonymy)
    |--L. elegans D03
    |--L. formosa H93
    |--L. grandiflora (Br.) Sweet 1830 ME70 (see below for synonymy)
    `--L. peregrinans Cockayne & Allan 1926 ME70
  Crocus HE80
  Moraea MG06
  Romulea MG06
  Heritieria Bosc 1798 B98
    `--*H. tinctorum Bosc 1798 B98
  Argolosia B98
  Irites alaskana Lesquereux 1888 CBH93
  Sophronia Licht. ex Roem. & Schult. 1817 KC01
  Sphaerospora Klatt 1864 KC01
  Belamcanda Adans. 1763 G77
    `--B. chinensis (Linné) DC. in Redouté 1805 (see below for synonymy) G77
  Eleutherine Herbert 1843 (nom. cons.) G77
    `--E. palmifolia (Linné) Merr. 1912 (see below for synonymy) G77
  Trimezia Salisb. ex Herbert 1844 G77
    `--T. martinicensis (Jacq.) Herbert 1844 (see below for synonymy) G77
  Galaxia ERV99
    |--G. grandiflora ERV99
    |--G. luteo-alba ERV99
    |--G. ovata ERV99
    |--G. stagnalis ERV99
    |--G. variabilis ERV99
    `--G. versicolor ERV99
  Geissorhiza ERV99
    |--G. bolusii ERV99
    |--G. corrugata ERV99
    |--G. ovalifolia ERV99
    |--G. ovata ERV99
    `--G. parva ERV99
  Hesperantha montigena ERV99
  Micranthus alopecuroides ERV99
  Syringodea derustensis ERV99
  Xenoscapa fistulosa ERV99

Belamcanda chinensis (Linné) DC. in Redouté 1805 [=Ixia chinensis Linné 1753, Pardanthus chinensis Ker-Gawl. in König & Sims 1805; incl. Balem-canda schularmani] G77

Chasmanthe aethiopica [=Antholyza aethiopica, Petamenes aethiopica (Linnaeus) Allan 1940, Pentamenes (l. c.) aethiopica] HE80

Eleutherine palmifolia (Linné) Merr. 1912 [=Sisyrinchium palmifolium Linné 1767; incl. Ixia americana Aubl. 1775, Eleutherine americana Merr. ex Heyne 1922, Sisyrinchium bulbosum Mill. 1768, E. bulbosa (Mill.) Urban in Fedde 1918, Antholyza meriana Blanco 1837, Moraea plicata Sw. 1797, Eleutherine plicata Herbert 1843] G77

Libertia grandiflora (Br.) Sweet 1830 ME70 [=Renealmia grandiflora Br. 1810 ME70; incl. L. macrocarpa Klatt 1861–1862 C06, L. orbicularis Col. 1883 ME70]

*Libertia ixioides (Forst. f.) Spreng. 1824 ME70 [=Sisyrinchium ixioides Forst. f. 1786 ME70, Ferraria ixioides C06, Moraea ixioides C06, Nematostigma ixioides C06, Renealmia ixioides C06; incl. L. restioides Klatt 1861–1862 C06]

Trimezia martinicensis (Jacq.) Herbert 1844 [=Iris martinicensis Jacq. 1760, Cipura martinicensis Kth in H. B. K. 1816, Trimeza (l. c.) martinicensis; incl. Trimezia lurida Salisb. 1812] G77

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B78] Bentham, G. 1878. Flora Australiensis: A description of the plants of the Australian Territory vol. 7. Roxburghiaceae to Filices. L. Reeve & Co.: London.

[B98] Bosc, C. 1798. Description de l'Heritieria. Bulletin des Sciences, par la Societé Philomathique de Paris 19: 145–146.

[C06] Cheeseman, T. F. 1906. Manual of the New Zealand Flora. John Mackay, Government Printer: Wellington.

[CBH93] Collinson, M. E., M. C. Boulter & P. L. Holmes. 1993. Magnoliophyta (‘Angiospermae’). In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 809–841. Chapman & Hall: London.

[CV06] Craven, P., & P. Vorster. 2006. Patterns of plant diversity and endemism in Namibia. Bothalia 36 (2): 175–189.

[DS04] Davis, J. I., D. W. Stevenson, G. Petersen, O. Seberg, L. M. Campbell, J. V. Freudenstein, D. H. Goldman, C. R. Hardy, F. A. Michelangeli, M. P. Simmons, C. D. Specht, F. Vergara-Silva & M. Gandolfo. 2004. A phylogeny of the monocots, as inferred from rbcL and atpA sequence variation, and a comparison of methods for calculating jackknife and bootstrap values. Systematic Botany 29 (3): 467–510.

[DE06] Duncan, G. D., & T. J. Edwards. 2006. Three new species of Lachenalia (Hyacinthaceae: Massonieae) from Western and Northern Cape, South Africa. Bothalia 36 (2): 147–155.

[D03] Dusén, P. 1903. The vegetation of western Patagonia. In: Scott, W. B. (ed.) Reports of the Princeton University Expeditions to Patagonia, 1896–1899 vol. 8. Botany pp. 1–34. The University: Princeton (New Jersey).

[ERV99] Esler, K. J., P. W. Rundel & P. Vorster. 1999. Biogeography of prostrate-leaved geophytes in semi-arid South Africa: hypotheses on functionality. Plant Ecology 142 (1–2): 105–120.

[G77] Geerinck, D. J. L. 1977. Iridaceae. Flora Malesiana, Series I—Spermatophyta, Flowering Plants 8 (2): 77–84.

[GK00] Gibson, N., & G. J. Keighery. 2000. Flora and vegetation of the Byenup-Muir reserve system, south-west Western Australia. CALMScience 3 (3): 323–402.

[GE05] Grimaldi, D., & M. S. Engel. 2005. Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press: New York.

[HE80] Healy, A. J., & E. Edgar. 1980. Flora of New Zealand vol. 3. Adventive cyperaceous, petalous and spathaceous monocotyledons. P. D. Hasselberg, Government Printer: Wellington (New Zealand).

[H93] Hickman, J. C. (ed.) 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California. University of California Press: Berkeley (California).

[KC01] Kirk, P. M., P. F. Cannon, J. C. David & J. A. Stalpers. 2001. Ainsworth & Bisby's Dictionary of the Fungi 9^th ed. CAB International: Wallingford (UK).

[LC95] Linder, H. P., & M. D. Crisp. 1995. Nothofagus and Pacific biogeography. Cladistics 11: 5–32.

[MG06] Manning, J. C., & P. Goldblatt. 2006. New species of Iridaceae from the Hantam-Roggeveld Centre of Endemism, and the Bokkeveld, Northern Cape, South Africa. Bothalia 36 (2): 139–145.

[ME70] Moore, L. B., & E. Edgar. 1970. Flora of New Zealand vol. 2. Indigenous Tracheophyta: Monocotyledones except Gramineae. A. R. Shearer, Government Printer: Wellington (New Zealand).

[MM96] Mound, L. A., & R. Marullo. 1996. The thrips of Central and South America: an introduction (Insecta: Thysanoptera). Memoirs on Entomology, International 6: 1–487.

[N06] Nelson, E. C. 2006. 'Forsyth (Fl. 1835)': a phantom botanical collector at the Cape of Good Hope explained. Bothalia 36 (2): 167–168.

[OS04] Obbens, F. J., & L. W. Sage. 2004. Vegetation and flora of a diverse upland remnant of the Western Australian wheatbelt (Nature Reserve A21064). Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 87 (1): 19–28.

[PT98] Panitsa, M., & D. Tzanoudakis. 1998. Contribution to the study of the Greek flora: flora and vegetation of the E Aegean islands Agathonisi and Pharmakonisi. Willdenowia 28: 95–116.

Last updated: 13 June 2022.