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Iridaceae is a family of plants in Order Asparagales
Asparagales

Asparagales is an order of flowering plants. The order must include the family Asparagaceae, but other families included in the order have varied markedly between different classifications....
, taking its name from the Irises
Iris (plant)

Iris is a genus of between 200-300 species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species....
. It includes a number of other well known cultivated plants, such as the Freesia
Freesia

Freesia is a genus of 14-16 species of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, native to Africa. Of the 14 species, 12 are native to Cape Province, South Africa, the remaining two to tropical Africa, one species extending north of the equator to Sudan....
, the Gladiolus
Gladiolus

Gladiolus is a genus of flowering plants in the iris family . Sometimes called the sword lily, the most widely-used English language common name for these plants is simply gladiolus ....
 and the Crocus
Crocus

Crocus is a genus of perennial plant flowering plants, native to a large area from coastal and subalpine areas of central and southern Europe , North Africa and the Middle East, across Central Asia to western China....
.

Members of this family are perennial plant
Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
s, with a bulb
Bulb

A bulb is an underground vertical shoot that has modified leaf that are used as food storage organs by a dormancy plant.A bulb's leaf bases generally do not support leaves, but contain food reserves to enable the plant to survive adverse conditions....
, corm
Corm

A corm is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant Plant stem that serves as a storage organ used by some plants to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat ....
 or rhizome
Rhizome

In botany, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal plant stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes....
. The plants grow erect, and have leaves that are generally grass-like, with a sharp central fold. Some examples of members of this family are the Blue Flag and Yellow Flag.

o 80 genera have been recognised in the family, with a total of around 1500 species, world wide.






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Iridaceae is a family of plants in Order Asparagales
Asparagales

Asparagales is an order of flowering plants. The order must include the family Asparagaceae, but other families included in the order have varied markedly between different classifications....
, taking its name from the Irises
Iris (plant)

Iris is a genus of between 200-300 species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species....
. It includes a number of other well known cultivated plants, such as the Freesia
Freesia

Freesia is a genus of 14-16 species of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, native to Africa. Of the 14 species, 12 are native to Cape Province, South Africa, the remaining two to tropical Africa, one species extending north of the equator to Sudan....
, the Gladiolus
Gladiolus

Gladiolus is a genus of flowering plants in the iris family . Sometimes called the sword lily, the most widely-used English language common name for these plants is simply gladiolus ....
 and the Crocus
Crocus

Crocus is a genus of perennial plant flowering plants, native to a large area from coastal and subalpine areas of central and southern Europe , North Africa and the Middle East, across Central Asia to western China....
.

Members of this family are perennial plant
Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
s, with a bulb
Bulb

A bulb is an underground vertical shoot that has modified leaf that are used as food storage organs by a dormancy plant.A bulb's leaf bases generally do not support leaves, but contain food reserves to enable the plant to survive adverse conditions....
, corm
Corm

A corm is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant Plant stem that serves as a storage organ used by some plants to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat ....
 or rhizome
Rhizome

In botany, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal plant stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes....
. The plants grow erect, and have leaves that are generally grass-like, with a sharp central fold. Some examples of members of this family are the Blue Flag and Yellow Flag.

List of genera

Up to 80 genera have been recognised in the family, with a total of around 1500 species, world wide. The Afrotropic
Afrotropic

The Afrotropic is one of the earth's eight ecozones. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the southern and eastern fringes of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean....
 ecozone
Ecozone

An ecozone or biogeographic realm is the largest scale biogeography division of the earth's surface based on the historic and evolutionary distribution patterns of plants and animals....
, and in particular South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
, have the greatest diversity of genera. The spice saffron
Saffron

Saffron is a spice derived from the dried gynoecium of the flower of the saffron crocus , a species of crocus in the family Iridaceae. The flower has three Carpels, which are the anatomical terms of location ends of the plant's carpels....
 comes from the stigma of the saffron crocus, Crocus
Crocus

Crocus is a genus of perennial plant flowering plants, native to a large area from coastal and subalpine areas of central and southern Europe , North Africa and the Middle East, across Central Asia to western China....
 sativus.

Name and history

The family name is based on the genus Iris
Iris (plant)

Iris is a genus of between 200-300 species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species....
, the largest and best known genus in Europe. The genus Iris dates from 1753, when it was coined by Swedish botanist, Carl Linnaeus. Its name derives from the Greek goddess, Iris, who carried messages from Olympus
Olympus

A number of different things are named Olympus:...
 to earth along a rainbow, whose colours were seen by Linnaeus in the multi-hued petals of many of the species.

The family is currently divided into four subfamilies but the results from DNA analysis suggest that several more should be recognised:

Subfamily Isophysidoideae contains the single genus Isophysis, from Tasmania. It is the only member of the family with a superior ovary and has a star-like yellow to brownish flower. Subfamily Nivenioideae contains six genera from South Africa, Australia and Madagascar, including the only true shrubs in the family (Klattia, Nivenia and Witsenia) as well as the only myco-heterotroph (Geosiris). Aristea is also a member of this subfamily. It is distinguished by having flowers in small, paired clusters among large bracts, slender styles that are divided into three slender branches and nectar (when present) produced from glands in the ovary walls. The flowers are always radially symmetrical, with separate tepals (petals) and the rootstock is a rhizome.

Subfamily Iridioideae is distributed throughout the range of the family and contains the large genera Iris
Iris (plant)

Iris is a genus of between 200-300 species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species....
 and Moraea
Moraea

Moraea is a genus of plants in family Iridaceae.Species include:* Moraea albiflora G J Lewis, Goldblatt* Moraea algoensis Goldblatt...
. It is the only subfamily that is represented in South America. The species have flowers in solitary clusters among large bracts, styles that are often petal-like or crested and nectar (when present) is produced from glands on the tepals. Most species have separate petals and the rootstock is usually a rhizome or rarely a bulb. The flowers are almost always radially symmetrical. Bobartia, Dietes
Dietes

Dietes is a genus of rhizome plants of the family Iridaceae. Common names include Fortnight lily, African iris, Morea or Moraea iris, Japanese iris and Butterfly iris, each of which may be used differently in different regions for one or more of the four species within the genus....
 and Ferraria
Ferraria

Ferraria is a genus of 11 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, native to tropical and southern Africa. They are herbaceous corm-bearing plants growing to 30-45 cm tall....
 belong to this subfamily.

Subfamily Ixioideae
Ixioideae

Ixioideae is one of the major subfamilies in the Iridaceae family. It's closely related to the Crocus subfamily - Crocoideae.It contains plants which are wildly distributed in the Old world - mainly in Africa but there are species like some members of the genera Romulea and Gladiolus which are native to Europe and Asia....
, which contains nearly two thirds of the species, is mostly African. This subfamily contains most of the familiar genera apart from Iris
Iris (plant)

Iris is a genus of between 200-300 species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species....
 and Moraea
Moraea

Moraea is a genus of plants in family Iridaceae.Species include:* Moraea albiflora G J Lewis, Goldblatt* Moraea algoensis Goldblatt...
, including Ixia
Ixia

The genus Ixia consists of a number of cormous plants native to South Africa from the Iridaceae family and Ixioideae subfamily. Some of them are known as the corn lily....
, Gladiolus
Gladiolus

Gladiolus is a genus of flowering plants in the iris family . Sometimes called the sword lily, the most widely-used English language common name for these plants is simply gladiolus ....
, Crocus
Crocus

Crocus is a genus of perennial plant flowering plants, native to a large area from coastal and subalpine areas of central and southern Europe , North Africa and the Middle East, across Central Asia to western China....
, Freesia
Freesia

Freesia is a genus of 14-16 species of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, native to Africa. Of the 14 species, 12 are native to Cape Province, South Africa, the remaining two to tropical Africa, one species extending north of the equator to Sudan....
 and Watsonia
Watsonia

Watsonia can refer to:* Watsonia , a genus of flowering plants in the iris family.* Watsonia , a botanical journal .* Watsonia, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia....
. It is easily recognised by bearing flowers in a spike-like inflorescence (sometimes solitary), with the tepals joined into a short or long tube. Nectar is produced from glands in the ovary wall and is secreted directly into the base of the floral tube. The flowers are either radially symmetrical or more usually bilaterally symmetrical and two-lipped. The rootstock is either a rhizome
Rhizome

In botany, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal plant stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes....
 or more commonly a corm. Several tribes are recognised in Iridoideae
Iridoideae

Iridoideae subfamily is one of the two main subfamilies in the popular Iridaceae family. It contains the best-known genus - Iris. The members of this subfamily are wildly distributed all over the world....
 and Ixioideae
Ixioideae

Ixioideae is one of the major subfamilies in the Iridaceae family. It's closely related to the Crocus subfamily - Crocoideae.It contains plants which are wildly distributed in the Old world - mainly in Africa but there are species like some members of the genera Romulea and Gladiolus which are native to Europe and Asia....
.

Ecology

Members of Iridaceae occur in a great variety of habitats. About the only place they do not grow is in the sea itself, although Gladiolus
Gladiolus

Gladiolus is a genus of flowering plants in the iris family . Sometimes called the sword lily, the most widely-used English language common name for these plants is simply gladiolus ....
 gueinzii occurs on the seashore just above the high tide mark within reach of the spray. Most species are adapted to seasonal climates that have a pronounced dry or cold period unfavourable for plant growth and during which the plants dormant. As a result most species are deciduous. Evergreen species are restricted to subtropical forests or savannah, temperate grasslands and perennially moist fynbos
Fynbos

Fynbos is the natural shrubland or Heath vegetation occurring in a small belt of the Western Cape of South Africa, mainly in winter rainfall coastal and mountainous areas with a Mediterranean climate....
. A few species grow in marshes or along streams and some even grow only in the spray of seasonal waterfalls.

The above ground parts (leaves and stems) of deciduous species die down when the bulb or corm enters dormancy. The plants thus survive periods that are unfavourable for growth by retreating underground. This is particularly useful in grasslands and fynbos
Fynbos

Fynbos is the natural shrubland or Heath vegetation occurring in a small belt of the Western Cape of South Africa, mainly in winter rainfall coastal and mountainous areas with a Mediterranean climate....
, which are adapted to regular burning in the dry season. At this time the plants are dormant and their bulbs or corms are able to survive the heat of the fires underground. Veld fires clear the soil surface of competing vegetation, as well as fertilised it with ash. With the arrival of the first rains, the dormant corms are ready to burst into growth, sending up flowers and stems before they can be shaded out by other vegetation. Many grassland and fynbos irids flower best after fires and some fynbos
Fynbos

Fynbos is the natural shrubland or Heath vegetation occurring in a small belt of the Western Cape of South Africa, mainly in winter rainfall coastal and mountainous areas with a Mediterranean climate....
 species will only flower in the season after a fire.

The family has a very diverse pollination ecology. Most species are pollinated by various species of solitary bees but many are adapted to pollination by sunbirds. These species typically have red to orange, trumpet-like flowers that secrete large amounts of nectar. Other species are adapted to pollination by butterflies and moths, carrion flies and long-proboscid flies, and even monkey-beetles.

  • Ainea
  • Alophia
  • Anapalina
  • Antholyza
  • Aristea
    Aristea

    Aristea is a genus of about 50 species of flowering plants in the Iridaceae family with rhizomes which are distributed in tropical and southern Africa, as well as Madagascar....
  • Babiana
    Babiana

    Babiana Ker Gawler is a genus of flowering plants in the Family Iridaceae comprised of about 80 species. Most of these species are found in the southwestern Cape of Africa, with the remainder distributed in Namaqualand and Northern Cape Province....
    , Baboon Flower
  • Barnardiella
  • Belamcanda
    Belamcanda

    Belamcanda is a genus of flowering plants of the family Iridaceae. The leaf grow in a fan, like those of a gladiolus. The flowers are typically orange spotted with red, although yellow-flowered varieties are in cultivation....
  • Bobartia
  • Calydorea, Violet-lily
  • Cardenanthus
  • Chasmanthe
    Chasmanthe

    Chasmanthe is a genus of flowering plants in the Iridaceae familywhich originate from South Africa. In their native habitat the flowers are pollinated by sunbirds....
    , African cornflag
  • Cipura
  • Cobana
  • Crocosmia
    Crocosmia

    Crocosmia , is a small genus of perennial species in the iris family Iridaceae, native to the grasslands of Cape Floristic Region, South Africa....
    , Montbretia
  • Crocus
    Crocus

    Crocus is a genus of perennial plant flowering plants, native to a large area from coastal and subalpine areas of central and southern Europe , North Africa and the Middle East, across Central Asia to western China....
  • Cypella
  • Devia
    Devia

    DEVIA is a 19th century-themed webcomic drawn by Kat Miller, based on the events of the role-play forum of the same name . The Comic follows the career of a young Royal Navy Lieutenant, Fox Tiberon and her comrades in arms....
  • Dierama
    Dierama

    Dierama is a genus in the Iridaceae and is popularly known as Fairy's Fishing Rods or Fairy's Wand. Its cultivars produce graceful flower shoots bearing flowers of a range of colours from white through to dark red....
    , Fairy-wand
  • Dietes
    Dietes

    Dietes is a genus of rhizome plants of the family Iridaceae. Common names include Fortnight lily, African iris, Morea or Moraea iris, Japanese iris and Butterfly iris, each of which may be used differently in different regions for one or more of the four species within the genus....
    , Fortnight Lily, African Iris
  • Diplarrena
    Diplarrena

    Diplarrena is a genus of 1 or 2 species in the family Iridaceae and native to south-eastern Australia. The name is from Greek diploos and arren , as Diplarrena has only two functional stamens; all other Iridaceae have three....
  • Duthiastrum
  • Eleutherine
  • Ennealophus
  • Eurynotia
  • Eustylis
  • Ferraria
    Ferraria

    Ferraria is a genus of 11 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, native to tropical and southern Africa. They are herbaceous corm-bearing plants growing to 30-45 cm tall....
  • Fosteria
  • Freesia
    Freesia

    Freesia is a genus of 14-16 species of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, native to Africa. Of the 14 species, 12 are native to Cape Province, South Africa, the remaining two to tropical Africa, one species extending north of the equator to Sudan....
     (syn. Anomatheca, Lapeirousia)
  • Galaxia
    Galaxia (plant)

    Galaxia is a genus of flowering plants in the Iridaceae family, but some consider it a synonym of Moraea....
  • Geissorhiza
    Geissorhiza

    Geissorhiza is a genus of about 80 species of flowering plants in the Iridaceae family which originate from South Africa.Here are some of them:...
  • Gelasine
  • Geosiris
    Geosiris

    Geosiris aphylla, sometimes called the "earth-iris", is an unusual species in the iris family Iridaceae. Native to Madagascar and other islands in the Indian Ocean, it is a small myco-heterotroph lacking chlorophyll....
  • Gladiolus
    Gladiolus

    Gladiolus is a genus of flowering plants in the iris family . Sometimes called the sword lily, the most widely-used English language common name for these plants is simply gladiolus ....
  • Gynandriris
  • Herbertia
  • Hermodactylus
  • Hesperantha
  • Hesperoxiphion
  • Hexaglottis
  • Homeria
    Homeria

    Homeria, commonly known as Cape tulips, is a genus of the botany family Iridaceae, which has 32 species of corm-bearing perennial plant herbs....
  • Homoglossum
  • Iris
    Iris (plant)

    Iris is a genus of between 200-300 species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species....
  • Isophysis
  • Ixia
    Ixia

    The genus Ixia consists of a number of cormous plants native to South Africa from the Iridaceae family and Ixioideae subfamily. Some of them are known as the corn lily....
    , African cornlily
  • Kelissa
  • Klattia
  • Larentia
  • Lethia
  • Libertia
    Libertia

    Libertia is a genus of monocotyledon plants in the family Iridaceae containing 15 species in the southern hemisphere. A number of species are endemic to New Zealand....
  • Mastigostyla
  • Melasphaerula
  • Micranthus
  • Moraea
    Moraea

    Moraea is a genus of plants in family Iridaceae.Species include:* Moraea albiflora G J Lewis, Goldblatt* Moraea algoensis Goldblatt...
  • Nemastylis
    Nemastylis

    Nemastylis is a genus of seven species of flowering plants in the Iridaceae family distributed in North America.List of species :* Nemastylis geminiflora...
  • Neomarica
    Neomarica

    Neomarica is a genus of 16 species of plants in family Iridaceae, native to tropical regions of western Africa, and Central America and South America, with the highest diversity in Brazil....
  • Nivenia
  • Olsynium
    Olsynium

    Olsynium is a genus of 12 species of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, with 11 of the species native to South America, and the twelfth to western North America....
    , Grasswidow
    Grasswidow

    A Grasswidow is a wife whose husband will return after a limited period of time away, usually after a voyage. In a second sense it can refer to a woman divorced or separated from her husband....
  • Onira
  • Orthrosanthus
    Orthrosanthus

    Orthrosanthus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae. It can be seen in Australia, Central and South America.Species include:...
  • Pardanthopsis
  • Patersonia
    Patersonia

    Patersonia is a genus of the Iridaceae with about 20 species in Australia and at least one in Timor.They are perennials with basal leaves growing from a woody rhizome that in some species extends above ground to form a short trunk....
  • Pillansia
  • Pseudotrimezia
  • Radinosiphon
  • Rheome
  • Roggeveldia
  • Romulea
    Romulea

    Romulea is a genus of about 80 species of flowering plants in the Iridaceae family distributed in Europe, the Mediterranean, and South Africa....
  • Salpingostylis
  • Savannosiphon
  • Schizostylis
  • Sessilanthera
  • Sessilistigma
  • Sisyrinchium, Blue-eyed Grass
    Blue-eyed grass

    The Blue-eyed Grasses, genus Sisyrinchium, are a substantial group of flowering plants of the iris family, Iridaceae. There are between 70 to 150 species , all native to the New World....
    , Yellow-eyed Grass
  • Solenomelus
  • Sparaxis
    Sparaxis

    Sparaxis is a genus in the family Iridaceae with about 13 species endemic to Cape Province, South Africa.All are perennials that grow during the wet winter season, flower in spring and survive underground as dormant corms over summer....
    , Wandflower
    Wandflower

    Sparaxis tricolor, also known as the Wandflower, Harlequin flower or Sparaxis, is a bulb-forming perennial plant that grows in well-drained sunny soil....
    , Harlequin Flower
  • Sphenostigma
  • Sympa
    Sympa

    Sympa is an open source mailing list software. Its name is an acronym for Systeme de Multi-Postage Automatique ....
  • Syringodea
  • Tapeina
  • Thereianthus
  • Tigridia
    Tigridia

    Tigridia is a genus of bulbous or cormous plants, belonging to the family Iridaceae. They have large showy flowers and one species, Tigridia pavonia, is often cultivated for this....
     Tiger Flower, Mexican Shell Flower
  • Trimezia
  • Tritonia
    Tritonia

    Tritonia refers to a genus. The name derives from the god Triton. It may refer to:* Tritonia , a genus of plants of the Iridaceae family.* Tritonia , a genus of nudibranch mollusc in the family Tritoniidae....
  • Tritoniopsis
  • Tucma
  • Watsonia
    Watsonia (plant)

    Watsonia is a genus of plants in the Iridaceae family, subfamily Crocoideae, native to South Africa. The genus is named after William Watson , a United Kingdom botanist....
    , Bugle-lily
  • Witsenia
  • Zygotritonia


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