Iridaceae (iris family)

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

There are about 70 genera and 1800 species (cosmopolitan), of which 32 genera and 1020 species are indigenous to southern Africa, which is the region of the world with the highest diversity of this family. An additional 11 genera and 28 species are cultivated in southern Africa.

Genera native or naturalised in southern Africa

List from Goldblatt & Manning (2000).

Aristea About 52 species, mainly southern African but the distribution of this genus extends to Senegal and Ethiopia and there are seven species on Madagascar.
Babiana Endemic to southern Africa. Most of the 68 or so species are endemic to the Western Cape and Namaqualand (Northern Cape).
Bobartia The 14 species are endemic to the Western and Eastern Cape, found mainly in montane rocky sandstone soils and particularly prevalent after fires.
Chasmanthe The 3 species are endemic to the Western Cape and Eastern Cape and occur usually in bushy places or on forest margins.
Crocosmia The 9 species are found in southern and eastern Africa as well as Madagascar.
Devia Contains a single species, Devia xeromorpha, found on the Roggeveld Escarpment in the western karoo on clay soils in mountain renosterveld.
Dierama The 44 species are found mainly in the summer rainfall region of eastern southern Africa, but the overall distribution extends from Knysna in the Western Cape, South Africa, to Ethiopia.
Dietes Has a strange distribution with 5 species found in southern Africa (1 of which has a distribution extending into East Africa) and 1 species found on Lord Howe Island (east of Australia).
Duthieastrum The only species in this genus is found in the northern Karoo (Northern Cape).
Ferraria Total of 11 species, found from southern Africa through to south tropical Africa, with most species found in sandy soils along the west coast of South Africa (Western and Northern Cape).
Freesia 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.
Geissorhiza The 84 species are endemic to South Africa, found mainly in the Western Cape but also in Northern and Eastern Cape.
Gladiolus About 260 species, with a distribution extending from South Africa, through tropical Africa and Madagascar to Europe and the Middle East. About 165 species are found in southern Africa, mainly in the Western Cape and eastern highlands. An additional two species from tropical Africa, are cultivated in southern Africa.
Hesperantha About 75 species, found from the Western Cape to Ethiopia, with centres of diversity in the southwestern Cape, western Karoo and the Drakensberg.
Ixia Endemic to Western Cape, Northern Cape (?) and Easten Cape, with about 50 species present.
Klattia The 3 species are endemic to the Western Cape.
Lapeirousia Occurs from Nigeria and Ethiopia through to the Western Cape in South Africa. Of the 40 species, 35 are found in southern Africa. The greatest diversity is in the semi-arid habitats of the Northern Cape (Namaqualand and western karoo).
Melasphaerula One species, Melasphaerula ramosa, found from southern Namibia to the Western Cape.
Micranthus About 3 species, found in the Westen Cape, usually in damp situations on sandstone soils.
Moraea About 200 species, found throughout sub-Saharan Africa and with 2 species also occurring in the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. About 180 species occur in southern Africa, with a concentration of species in the Western Cape. An additional species from tropical Africa (Moraea schimperi) cultivated in southern Africa.
Nivenia The 10 species are endemic to the Western Cape.
Pillansia One species, Pillansia templemannii, occurring from Kogelberg to Kleinrivier Mountains in the Caledon district of the Western Cape.
Radinosiphon One to 3 species , found in mountainous areas from Mpumalanga and Swaziland through to southern Tanzania. The pink, long-tubed flowers are pollinated by the long-proboscid fly Prosoeca ganglbaueri (Nemestrinidae).
Romulea About 88 species (77 in southern Africa, especially diverse in winter rainfall area), found from southern Africa through to Europe, Middle East and Canary Islands.
Sparaxis The 15 species are endemic to the Western and Northern Cape, found mainly on clay soils in renosterveld and to a lesser extent in coastal sandveld.
Syringodea The 8 species are found in the Northern and Western Cape, mainly on clay soils in karoo vegetation.
Thereianthus The 7 species are endemic to the Western Cape.
Tritonia Occurs from South Africa through to Tanzania but most of the 28 species are found in the winter rainfall region of the Western Cape and Namaqualand (Northern Cape).
Tritoniopsis The 22 species are endemic to the Western Cape and Eastern Cape, mainly on sandstone soils in fynbos.
Watsonia The 52 species are endemic to southern Africa, with most species found in the Western Cape and the grasslands of KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland and Mpumalanga.
Witsenia The only species in this genus, Witsenia maura, is in low-lying, peaty, sandstone soils in the Western Cape, from the Cape Peninsula to Swellendam.
Xenoscapa The 2 species are found from southern Namibia to Western Cape.

Other genera, cultivated in southern Africa

List from Glen (2002). Species names are given for genera where only one species has been cultivated in southern Africa.

Belamcanda chinensis (Leopard lily) Indigenous from India to Siberia and Japan.
Cypella herbertii Indigenous from Brazil to Argentina.
Eleuthrine bulbosa Indigenous from Cuba to Brazil.
Herbertia caerulea Indigenous to southern USA.
Iris 12 species cultivated.
Libertia ixioides Indigenous to New Zealand.
Neomarica Two species cultivated.
Patersonia glabrata Indigenous to eastern Australia.
Sisyrinchium Three species cultivated.
Solenomeles pedunculatus Indigenous to Chile.
Tigridia pavonia (Tiger lily, Peacock flower) Indigenous to Mexico.

The spice saffron is derived from the stigmas and styles are Crocus sativus (Saffron flower). Surprisingly, there is no record of this species being cultivated in southern Africa (Glen 2002).

Publications

Glen, H.F. 2002. Cultivated Plants of Southern Africa. Jacana, Johannesburg.
Goldblatt, P. & Manning, J.C. 2000. Iridaceae. In: Seed Plants of Southern Africa (ed. O.A. Leistner). Strelitzia 10: 623-638. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.