Genus: Tritoniopsis

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

The 22 species are endemic to the Western Cape and Eastern Cape, mainly on sandstone soils in fynbos.

There are 3 main types of pollination (Goldblatt & Manning 2000):

• Short-tubed species are pollinated mainly by bees.
• Long-tubed species are pollinated mainly by moths and long-proboscid flies.
• Red-flowered species are probably pollinated by Aeropetes tulbaghia butterflies and sunbirds.

Publications

• Goldblatt, P. 1990. Status of the southern African Anapalina and Antholyza (Iridaceae), genera based solely on characters for bird pollination, and a new species of Tritoniopsis. South African Journal of Botany 56: 577-582.

• 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.

• Lewis, G.J. 1959. South African Iridaceae. The genus Tritoniopsis. Journal of South African Botany 25: 319-355.