Iridaceae

Lapeirousia Pourr.

First published in Hist. & Mém. Acad. Roy. Sci. Toulouse 3: 79 (1788)
This genus is accepted
The native range of this genus is Tanzania to S. Africa.

Descriptions

Iridaceae, P. Goldblatt. Flora Zambesiaca 12:4. 1993

Morphology General Habit
Perennial herbs with bell-shaped flat-based corms, aerial parts dying back annually; corm tunics of densely compacted fibres or woody.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves several, the lower 2–3 membranous and sheathing the stem base (cataphylls); the foliage leaves few or sometimes solitary, plane, or shallowly plicate-corrugate, or terete, the lowermost longest and inserted on the stem near ground level, the upper leaves cauline and progressively smaller.
Morphology Stem
Stem somewhat compressed and angular, sometimes entirely subterranean.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence panicle-like, or a simple to branched spike, or flowers clustered at ground level; bracts green to membranous, the outer sometimes ridged, keeled, crisped or toothed.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers blue, purple, red, white or pink, actinomorphic or zygomorphic; tepals connate into a short to long perianth tube; tepal lobes subequal or unequal.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens symmetrically disposed around the style or unilateral and arcuate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style
Style filiform; style branches usually forked for up to half of their length, sometimes entire or barely bifid.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsules membranous to coriaceous, more or less globose.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds more or less globose.
[FZ]

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit
Perennials with bell‑shaped flat‑based corms with densely compacted fibrous or woody tunics
Morphology Leaves
Leaves several, the lower 2–3 membranous and sheathing the base; foliage leaves few, sometimes solitary, the lowermost longest and inserted on the stem near ground level, blade either plane, or shallowly plicate-corrugate, or terete, upper leaves cauline and progressively smaller
Morphology Stem
Stem somewhat compressed and angular, sometimes entirely subterranean
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence either panicle-like, or a simple to branched spike, or flowers clustered at ground level, the bracts green to membranous, the outer sometimes ridged, keeled, crisped or toothed
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers blue, purple, red, white or pink, regular or zygomorphic, tube short to long, tepals subequal or unequal
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens symmetrically disposed around the style or unilateral and arcuate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style
Style filiform, the branches usually forked for up to half their length, sometimes entire or barely bifid
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsules membranous to coriaceous, ± globose
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds globose.
Distribution
Some 25 species widespread across sub‑Saharan Africa, from Ethiopia and Nigeria to South Africa.
[FSOM]

Iridaceae, Peter Goldblatt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1996

Morphology General Habit
Perennials with bell-shaped flat-based corms with densely compacted fibrous or woody tunics
Morphology Leaves
Leaves several, the lower 2-3 membranous and sheathing the base (cataphylls); foliage leaves few, sometimes solitary, the lowermost longest and inserted on the stem near ground-level, blade plane, shallowly plicate-corrugate or terete, upper leaves cauline and progressively smaller
Morphology Stem
Stem somewhat compressed and angular, sometimes entirely subterranean
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence panicle-like, a simple to branched spike or flowers clustered at ground-level; bracts green to membranous, the outer sometimes ridged, keeled, crisped or toothed
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers blue, purple, red, white or pink, actinomorphic or zygomorphic; tube short to long; tepals subequal or unequal
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens symmetrically disposed around the style or unilateral and arcuate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style
Style filiform, the branches usually forked for up to half their length, sometimes entire or barely bifid
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsules membranous to coriaceous, ± globose
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds ± globose
Distribution
40 SPECIES, widespread across sub-Saharan Africa from Nigeria and Ethiopia to the south-western Cape, South Africa.
[FTEA]

Sources

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Somalia

    • Flora of Somalia
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0