Family:
Iridaceae Juss.
Genus:
Crocosmia Planch.

Crocosmia aurea (Pappe ex Hook.) Planch.

This species is accepted, and its native range is Sudan to S. Africa. It is used as a medicine, has environmental uses and for food.

[FTEA]

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

Morphology General Habit
Plants usually 60-100 cm. high.
Vegetative Multiplication Corms
Corms 1-2 cm. diameter, producing stolons up to 18 cm. long, tunics membranous, almost papery, brown.
Morphology Leaves
Foliage leaves several, plane, linear-lanceolate, shorter or longer than the stems, thin-textured.
Morphology Stem
Stem arching outward above, unbranched or (2-)3-4-branched.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Spike 4-12-flowered, strongly arched, usually flexuose, the branches diverging; bracts firm, green or becoming brown, 5-8(-15) mm. long, the outer acute, acuminate or 2-3-toothed, the inner 2-toothed.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers actinomorphic, hypocrateriform, usually facing the ground, bright orange (rarely with dark markings at the tepal bases); perianth-tube cylindric-curved, 1-1.6(-2.2) cm. long, barely expanded above; tepals subequal, narrowly elliptic, obtuse, spreading horizontally, 1.2-2.8 cm. long, 3-6 mm. wide.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Filaments 1.2-3 cm. long, erect, exserted for most of their length, surrounding the style; anthers 3-7 mm. long, whitish to orange.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style
Style almost central, dividing opposite the anthers, branches 2-5 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsules depressed globose, bright orange-red on the inside, ± 1 cm. long, 1.2-1.5 cm. diameter.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 1-2(-4) per locule, blackish, glossy, 4-5 mm. in diameter.
Figures
Fig. 10.

[FZ]

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

Morphology General Habit
Plants usually 60–100 cm high.
Vegetative Multiplication Corms
Corms 10–20 mm in diameter, producing stolons up to 18 cm long; tunics membranous, almost papery, brown.
Morphology Leaves
Foliage leaves several, shorter or longer than the stems, linear-lanceolate, plane, thin-textured.
Morphology Stem
Stem arching outward above, unbranched or (2)3–4-branched with the branches diverging.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Spike 4–12-flowered, strongly arched, usually flexuous: bracts firm, green or becoming brown, 5–8(15) mm long, the outer acute to acuminate or 2–3-toothed, the inner 2-toothed.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers bright-orange (rarely with dark markings at the tepal bases), actinomorphic, hypocrateriform, usually directed toward the ground; perianth tube cylindric-curved, 10–16(22) mm long, barely expanded above; tepals subequal, 12–28 × 3–6 mm, narrowly elliptic, obtuse, spreading horizontally.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens symmetrically disposed; filaments 12–30 mm long, erect, exserted for most of their length, surrounding the style; anthers whitish to orange, 3–7 mm long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style
Style almost central, dividing opposite the anthers, branches 2–5 mm long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsules c. 10 mm long, 12–15 mm in diameter, depressed globose, bright orange-red on the inside.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 1–2(4) per locule, blackish, glossy, 4–6 mm in diameter, globose, later becoming wrinkled.

[UPFC]
Distribution
Biogeografic region: Andean. Colombian departments: Bogotá DC.

[UPFC]
Use Environmental
Environmental uses.
Use Gene Sources
Used as gene sources.
Use Food
Used for food.
Use Materials
Used as material.
Use Medicines
Medical uses.

Native to:

Angola, Burundi, Cape Provinces, Central African Repu, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Northern Provinces, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

Introduced into:

Azores, Japan

Crocosmia aurea (Pappe ex Hook.) Planch. appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
Milne-Redhead, E. [9011], Tanzania 26914.000 No
Pfennig, H., Uganda 29047.374 No
Polhill, R. [1713], Tanzania 5550.000 No
Pappe [s.n.], South Africa K000321089 Unknown type material Yes
Harris, T. [511], Malawi K000614589 No

First published in Fl. Serres Jard. Eur. 7: 161 (1851)

Accepted by

  • Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola Strelitzia 22: 1-279. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
  • Geerinck, D (2005). Flore d'Afrique Centrale (Zaïre - Rwanda - Burundi) Iridaceae: 1-102. Jardin Botanique National de Belgique, Meise.
  • Goldblatt, P. (1993). Flora Zambesiaca: i-iv, 1-106. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Goldblatt, P. (1996). Iridaceae Flora of Tropical East Africa: 1-89.
  • Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.
  • Innes, C. (1985). The World of Iridaceae: 1-407. Holly Gare International Ltd., Ashington.
  • Iwatsuki, K., Boufford, D.E. & Ohba, H. (2016). Flora of Japan IVb: 1-335. Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo.
  • Maire, R. (1959 publ. 1960). Flore de l'Afrique du Nord 6: 1-397. Paul Lechevalier, Paris.
  • Retief, E. & Meyer, N.L. (2017). Plants of the Free State inventory and identification guide Strelitzia 38: 1-1236. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
  • Strugnell, A.M. (2006). A checklist of the Spermatophytes of Mt. Mulanje, Malawi Scripta Botanica Belgica 34: 1-199.
  • Timberlake, J.R., Bayliss, J., Alves, T., Francisco, J., Harris, T., Nangoma, D. & de Sousa, C. (2009). Biodiversity and Conservation of Mchese Mountain, Malawi. Report produced under the Darwin Initiative Award 15/036: 1-71. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Literature

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Andrews, F.W. (1956). The Flowering Plants of the Sudan 3: i-viii, 1-579. T.Buncle & co., LTD., Arbroath, Scotland.
  • Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds.) (2003). Plants of Southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14.: i-vi, 1-1231. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
  • Goldblatt, P. (1996). Iridaceae Flora of Tropical East Africa: 1-89.
  • Goldblatt, P. (2007). Personal communication on Iridaceae 1.
  • Hansen, A. & Sunding, P. (1985). Flora of Macaronesia. Checklist of vascular plants. 3. revised edition Sommerfeltia 1: 5-103.
  • Iwatsuki, K., Boufford, D.E. & Ohba, H. (2016). Flora of Japan IVb: 1-335. Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo.
  • Retief, E. & Meyer, N.L. (2017). Plants of the Free State inventory and identification guide Strelitzia 38: 1-1236. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • Baker in Flora of Tropical Africa 7: 355 (1898).
  • Goldblatt in Flora Zambesiaca 12(4): 49 (1993).
  • Klatt in Peters, Reise Mossamb. Bot. 2: 516, t. 57 (1864)
  • Klatt in Th. Dur. & Schinz, Consp Fl. Afr. 5: 203 (1895).
  • M.P. de Vos in Journ. S. Afr. Bot. 50: 476 (1984).
  • Planch. in Fl. Serres Jard. Europe 7: 161, t. 702 (1851).

Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

  • Burkill HM. (1995). The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vols. 1-3. The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vols 1-3.
  • Diazgranados et al. (2021). Catalogue of plants of Colombia. Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia project. In prep.
  • Diazgranados, M., Allkin, B., Black N., Cámara-Leret, R., Canteiro C., Carretero J., Eastwood R., Hargreaves S., Hudson A., Milliken W., Nesbitt, M., Ondo, I., Patmore, K., Pironon, S., Turner, R., Ulian, T. (2020). World Checklist of Useful Plant Species. Produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity.
  • GRIN (2021). Germplasm Resources Information Network from the United States Department of Agriculture. https://www.ars-grin.gov/
  • Medicinal Plant Names Services (MPNS) v.10 (2021); http://mpns.kew.org/
  • PROTA (2021). Plants Resources of Tropical Africa. https://prota4u.org/database/
  • Willis, K.J. (ed.) (2017). State of the World’s Plants 2017. Report. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

  • Art and Illustrations in Digifolia

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  • Flora Zambesiaca

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  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    Flora of Tropical East Africa
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    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

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