Calydorea

Calydorea
Calydorea xiphioides
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Asparagales
Family: Iridaceae
Subfamily: Iridoideae
Tribe: Tigridieae
Genus: Calydorea
Herb.[1]
Type species
Calydorea speciosa
(J.D. Hooker) Herbert
Species

See text.

Calydorea is a small genus of perennial, herbaceous and bulbous plants in the iris family (Iridaceae) which is distributed in America. The genus includes small plants, with tunicated bulbs, perfect flowers with three free stamens and tepals in white, yellow, violet or light blue colors, depending on the species. Calydorea includes about 20 species which are distributed from Southern United States to Chile and Argentina. Taxonomists considered that the already known genera Salpingostylis (endemic from Florida), Cardiostigma (from Mexico), Catila (from Brazil) and Itysa (from Venezuela) are not enough different from each other to justify their taxonomic segregation and, for this reason, all of them are now included in Calydorea. [2]

The genus name is derived from the Greek words caly, meaning "sheathed", and dorea, meaning "spear".[3]

Contents

Description

Herbs, perennial, from tunicate, ovoid bulbs; tunic brown, dry, brittle, papery. Stems simple or branched. Leaves few, basal larger; blade pleated, linear-lanceolate. Inflorescences rhipidiate, few-flowered; spathes green, unequal, outer shorter than inner, apex usually brown, acute, dry. Flowers short-lived, erect, actinomorphic; tepals spreading from base, distinct, blue to mauve, more or less equal [outer whorl considerably larger than inner]. The fruit is an ovoid to oblong capsule, cartilaginous, apex truncate. Seeds many, prismatic; seed coat brown. The basic chromosome number is x = 7.[4]

List of species

The list of species of Calydorea and their geographic distribution is given below:[5]

References

  1. ^ Edwards's Bot. Reg. 29: 85 (1843).
  2. ^ Goldblatt, P. & J.E. Henrich. 1991. Calydorea Herbert (Iridaceae-Tigridieae): Notes on this New World genus and reduction to synonymy of Salpingostylis, Cardiostigma, Itysa and Catila. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 78: 504-511
  3. ^ Manning, John; Goldblatt, Peter (2008). The Iris Family: Natural History & Classification. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. pp. 233–35. ISBN 0-88192-897-6. 
  4. ^ Goldblatt, P. Calydorea Flora of North America 26:17. Accessed 5-20-2009
  5. ^ Royal Horticultural Society, Kew. A detailed checklist for genus Calydorea .

Bibliography

External links