Genus: Freesia

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

Twelve of the 14 species occur in the winter-rainfall region of South Africa and the remaining 2 species are found in south tropical Africa, 1 of which has a distribution extending as far north as Sudan.

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

• The species with broad-tubes and highly scented, are pollinated by bees.
• The narrow-tubed unscented species are pollinated by butterflies and maybe moths.

Publications

• Goldblatt, P. 1982. Systematics of Freesia Klatt (Iridaceae). Journal of South African Botany 48: 39-91.

• Goldblatt, P. & Manning, J.C. 1995. Phylogeny of the African genera Anomotheca and Freesia (Iridaceae-Ixioideae), and a new genus Xenoscapa. Systematic Botany 20: 161-178.

• 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.