| Cipura | |
|---|---|
| Cipura flava | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Magnoliophyta |
| Class: | Liliopsida |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Iridaceae |
| Subfamily: | Iridoideae |
| Tribe: | Tigridieae |
| Genus: | Cipura Aublet Hist. Pl. Guiane 1: 38 (1775). |
| Type species | |
| Cipura paludosa Aublet |
|
| Species | |
|
See text. |
|
Cipura is a small genus of perennial, herbaceous and bulbous plants in the Iris family (Iridaceae). The genus consists in 8 species widespread distributed in tropical Central and South America. It is closely related to the larger genus Cypella.
Contents |
Perennial plants with 20 to 50 cm in height (up to 1 m in Cipura gigas) and lanceolate and plicate leaves. The flowers are actinomorphic, usually white, rarelly light blue. The outer whorl of tepals has a different shape and morphology than the inner whorl. Basic chromosome number in Cipura is x=7. C. xanthomelas and C. rupicola, are tetraploid species with 2n = 4x = 28 chromosomes.
The list of Cipura species, with their complete name and authority, and their geographic distribution is given below. [1] The best known is C. paludosa, a widely distributed species occurring in tropical South America, Central America, and the West Indies.[2]