Overview
Low herbaceous ornamental from Africa with the sword-like leaves in one plane . The showy flowers are yellow with three brownish spots at the base .
Common Names
Common Names in English:
African Iris, Bicolor Iris, Evergreen Iris, Peacock Flower, Spanish Iris
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]
Physical Description
Habit: Evergreen .
Flowers: Bloom Period: March, April, May. • Flower Color: near white, pale yellow, white
Size/Age/Growth
Size: 18-24" tall.
Biology
Growth
Culture: Space 18-24" apart.
Soil: Minimum pH: 5.6 • Maximum pH: 7.8
Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade.
Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High
Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b. (map)
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 Ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
()
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Liliopsida
()
- Scopoli, 1760
- Class:
Liliopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
Publishing author
: Sweet ex
G.Don
Publication
: in Loud. Hort. Brit
. Suppl. i. 587
An accepted name
in the RHS Horticultural Database.
Similar Species
Members of the genus Dietes
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 17 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
D. bicolor (Evergreen Iris) · D. butcheriana (Wide-Leafed Dietes) · D. catenulata · D. compressa · D. flavida (Butterfly Iris) · D. grandiflora (Butterfly Iris) · D. huttoni · D. huttonii · D. iridifolia · D. iridioides (Fortnight Lily) · D. iridioides 'Amatola' · D. iridioides 'Johnsonii' · D. iridioides 'Tiny Dancer' · D. irioides · D. prolongata · D. robinsoniana (Wedding Lily) · D. vegeta
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Zhao Yu-tang. 1985. Iridaceae. In: Pei Chien & Ting Chih-tsun, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 16(1): 120--198.
Notes
Contributors
- Carr, Gerald
- The International Plant Names Index. Accessed Jan 19, 2007.
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 5833585
- Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:436864-1
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 436864-1
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 707367
Footnotes
- 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. [back]
