| Freesia laxa | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Iridaceae |
| Genus: | Freesia |
| Species: | F. laxa |
| Binomial name | |
| Freesia laxa | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Freesia laxa, commonly known as flowering grass, [2] is a small species of cormous flowering plant in the family Iridaceae, from eastern and southern Africa, from Kenya to northeastern South Africa. [1] It is grown in gardens as an ornamental plant.
Freesia laxa grows from corms, reaching about 15–30 cm (6–12 in) tall. The green leaves are arranged in a flat "fan" from which the flower stalk emerges. The flowers are flattened, about 2 cm (0.8 in) across. Their colour varies considerably. The ground colour is red, white or pale blue. The bases of the lowest three tepals usually have a darker marking, which may be red or purple, although it is absent in the pure white form. The seeds are bright red. [3] [4]
It is native to the eastern side of southern Africa, [3] from Kenya to South Africa, [1] where it grows in somewhat moist conditions. It dies down to a corm in the winter, growing again at the end of spring and flowering in summer. [3] In the wild, in the Southern Hemisphere, it flowers between October and December. [4]
This small bulbous species has been known by a variety of names. The name Gladiolus laxus was originally published by Carl Thunberg in 1823. Peter Goldblatt transferred the species to Anomatheca laxa in 1971; Nicholas Brown changed it to Lapeirousia laxa in 1928; Goldblatt with his colleague John Charles Manning settled on Freesia laxa in 1995. [1] Separately, in 1830, John Lindley described Anomatheca cruenta which John Baker transferred to Lapeirousia cruenta in 1892. [5] Lindley's plant is now regarded as part of Freesia laxa. [1]
Forms with blue flowers are treated as Freesia laxa subsp. azurea, other forms being placed in Freesia laxa subsp. laxa. [6] [7]
Freesia laxa is sufficiently hardy to be grown outdoors in all but the coldest parts of the British Isles. [3] It requires a light soil and a sunny position. In colder areas, the corms can be lifted and dried off during the winter. It can be propagated by dividing groups of corms or by seed. [3] It can be somewhat invasive through self-sowing when grown in favourable conditions. [6]
Crocus is a genus of seasonal flowering plants in the family Iridaceae comprising about 100 species of perennials growing from corms. They are low growing plants, whose flower stems remain underground, that bear relatively large white, yellow, orange or purple flowers and then become dormant after flowering. Many are cultivated for their flowers, appearing in autumn, winter, or spring. The flowers close at night and in overcast weather conditions. The crocus has been known throughout recorded history, mainly as the source of saffron. Saffron is obtained from the dried stigma of Crocus sativus, an autumn-blooming species. It is valued as a spice and dyestuff, and is one of the most expensive spices in the world. Iran is the center of saffron production. Crocuses are native to woodland, scrub, and meadows from sea level to alpine tundra from the Mediterranean, through North Africa, central and southern Europe, the islands of the Aegean, the Middle East and across Central Asia to Xinjiang in western China. Crocuses may be propagated from seed or from daughter cormels formed on the corm, that eventually produce mature plants. They arrived in Europe from Turkey in the 16th century and became valued as an ornamental flowering plant.
Corm, bulbo-tuber, or bulbotuber is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ that some plants use to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (perennation).
Freesia is a genus of herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, first described as a genus in 1866 by Christian Friedrich Ecklon (1886) and named after the German botanist and medical practitioner, Friedrich Freese (1795–1876). It is native to the eastern side of southern Africa, from Kenya south to South Africa, most species being found in Cape Provinces. Species of the former genus Anomatheca are now included in Freesia. The plants commonly known as "freesias", with fragrant funnel-shaped flowers, are cultivated hybrids of a number of Freesia species. Some other species are also grown as ornamental plants.
Iridaceae is a family of plants in order Asparagales, taking its name from the irises. It has a nearly global distribution, with 69 accepted genera with a total of c. 2500 species. It includes a number of economically important cultivated plants, such as species of Freesia, Gladiolus, and Crocus, as well as the crop saffron.
Crocosmia, also known as montbretia, is a small genus of flowering plants in the iris family, Iridaceae. It is native to the grasslands of southern and eastern Africa, ranging from South Africa to Sudan. One species is endemic to Madagascar.
Watsonia is a genus of plants in the family Iridaceae, subfamily Crocoideae. Watsonias are native to southern Africa. The genus is named after Sir William Watson, an 18th-century British botanist.
Ferraria is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, native to tropical and southern Africa. They are herbaceous corm-bearing plants growing to 30–45 cm tall. Some species have an unpleasant scent similar to rotting meat and are pollinated by flies, while others have a pleasant scent. The genus name is a tribute to Italian Jesuit Botanist and botanical artist Giovanni Baptista Ferrari.
Dierama is a genus of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae. Common names include hairbells, angel's fishing rod, fairybells, and wandflowers in English and grasklokkies in Afrikaans. They are native to Africa, with most occurring in the southern regions of the continent. The center of diversity is the province of KwaZulu-Natal in eastern South Africa.
Babiana stricta, the baboon flower or blue freesia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae, native to Cape Province, South Africa and naturalized in Australia.
Crocoideae is one of the major subfamilies in the family Iridaceae.
Crocus flavus, known as yellow crocus, Dutch yellow crocus or snow crocus, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Crocus of the family Iridaceae. It grows wild on the slopes of Greece, former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania and northwestern Turkey, with fragrant bright orange-yellow flowers. It is a small crocus (5–6 cm, despite the names of some cultivars, compared to the giant Dutch crocuses. Its cultivars are used as ornamental plants.
Xenoscapa is a genus of herbaceous, perennial and bulbous plants in the family Iridaceae. It consists of only three species distributed in Africa, and is closely related to the genera Freesia. The genus name is derived from the Greek words xenos, meaning "strange", and scapa, meaning "flowering stem".
Freesia alba is a species of flowering plant in the iris family. Some sources consider it to be a subspecies of Freesia leichtlinii, F. leichtlinii subsp. alba. It is native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa, but this species and hybrids are known on other continents where they have been introduced. Freesia alba is an herbaceous perennial growing from a corm and producing an erect, often branched stem up to 40 cm (16 in) centimeters tall with several leaves up to about 15 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a spike of several fragrant flowers with usually white tepals marked with yellow and purple.
Trimezia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, native to the warmer parts of southern Mexico, Central America, South America, Florida, and the West Indies. Trimezia is placed in the tribe Trimezieae. The division of the tribe into genera has varied considerably. In one approach, it contains only the genus Trimezia, which then includes the genera Neomarica, Pseudotrimezia and Pseudiris. In other approaches, two to five genera are recognized, sometimes also including the genus Deluciris.
Iris tuberosa is a species of tuberous flowering plant of the genus Iris, with the common names snake's-head, snake's-head iris, widow iris, black iris, or velvet flower-de-luce.
Crocosmia aurea, common names falling stars, Valentine flower, or montbretia, is a perennial flowering plant belonging to the family Iridaceae.
Lapeirousia is a genus in the plant family Iridaceae. It is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, about a third of the species occurring in fynbos.
Crocus nudiflorus is a species of flowering plant in the genus Crocus of the family Iridaceae. It is an autumn-flowering, dwarf, deciduous perennial found in western Europe from southwestern France to Spain. It has been cultivated since Tudor times in Great Britain, where it is now naturalized.
Peter Goldblatt is a South African botanist, working principally in the United States.
Lapeirousia oreogena, known in English as cushion cabong and in Afrikaans as perskussing, is a species of tuberous geophyte in the Iris family, Iridaceae. It is found in a small area between the provinces of Northern Cape and Western Cape in South Africa. Lapeirousia oreogena was first described in 1897 by Rudolf Schlechter and then subsequently published in Contributions from the Bolus Herbarium by Peter Goldblatt in 1972.
