Goldblatt, P. (1993) Iridaceae Flora Zambesiaca 12(4)
Perennial herbs with rhizomes, bulbs or corms. Inflorescence either (1) composed of rhipidia enclosed in leafy to dry bracts (spathes) or (2) consisting of a spike or (3) with flowers solitary. Flowers bisexual, actinomorphic or zygomorphic, with 2 whorls of petaloid tepals which are usually showy and may be free or, more usually, partly united into a perianth tube. Stamens 3. Ovary inferior, 3-locular with axile placentation. Style filiform, usually 3-branched; style branches filiform or broadened, sometimes divided at the apex. Fruit a capsule. Seeds sometimes winged. Worldwide: 82 genera and 1700 species, cosmopolitan, but especially in South Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean and Central and South America. Zimbabwe: 13 cultivated genera and 12 cultivated taxa. |
No image of a cultivated species but there is an image of a native or naturalised species |
| Genus | Content |
| Aristea Sol. ex Aiton | Description |
| Babiana Ker Gawl. ex Sims | Description |
| Crocosmia Planch. | Description |
| Dierama K. Koch | Description |
| Dietes Salisb. ex Klatt | Description |
| Freesia Eckl. ex Klatt | Description |
| Gladiolus L. | Description |
| Iris L. | Description |
| Ixia L. | Description |
| Neomarica Sprague | Description |
| Sparaxis Ker Gawl. | Description |
| Tigridia Juss. | |
| Watsonia Mill. | Description |