Genus: Geissorhiza

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

Geissorhiza aspera, coastal fynbos, Kleinmond Nature Reserve (Western Cape, South Africa).

The 84 species are endemic to South Africa, found mainly in the Western Cape but also in Northern and Eastern Cape.

Most of the species are pollinated by generalist pollinators such as bees and monkey beetles (Hopliini). The pale pink, long-tubed flowers are pollinated by long-proboscid flies (Tabanidae and Nemestrinidae) (Goldblatt & Manning 2000).

Publications

• Goldblatt, P. 1985. Revision of the southern African genus Geissorhiza (Iridaceae: Ixioideae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 72: 277-447.

• 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.