Aristea

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) >  Monocotyledons >  Order: Asparagales >  Family: Iridaceae

About 52 species, mainly southern African but the distribution of this genus extends to Senegal and Ethiopia, and there are seven species on Madagascar.

Three main types of pollination have been discerned in this genus (Goldblatt & Manning 2000):

• Most species are pollinated by bees and have flowers that open in the early morning and fade by midday or by early afternoon.
• A few species in the southwestern Cape are pollinated by monkey beetles (Hopliini) and have flowers with dark markings that last the entire day.
• Aristea spiralis produces nectar and is probably pollinated by long-proboscid flies in the genus Philoliche (Diptera: Tabanidae).

Publications

• Goldblatt, P. & Manning, J.C. 2000. Iridaceae. In: In: Seed Plants of Southern Africa (ed. O.A. Leistner). Strelitzia 10: 623-638. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.

• Vincent, L.P.D. 1985. A partial revision of the genus Aristea (Iridaceae) in South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Transkei and Ciskei. South African Journal of Botany 51: 209-252.

• Weimarck, H. 1940. Monograph of the genus Aristea. Acta universitatis lundensis (Lunds universitets årsskrift) N.F. Avd. 2, 36(1): 1-140.