Taxonomy
of Flowering Plants - LECTURE
NOTES - Spring, 1998
Hugh
D. Wilson - rm. 306,
Butler Hall
27 April 1998
The Liliidae
Family Overview - Liliales
Iridaceae - the Iris Family
Diversity: perennial herbs
with, often, showy flowers - ca. 80 genera and 1,500 species including
many ornamental domesticates: (Iris,
Crocus, Gladiolus) and also the spice saffron,
which is extracted from the styles of Crocus sativus.
Distribution: Worldwide
with centers of diversity in the southern hemisphere. The Texas flora
includes 6 genera and 26 species with a single endemic
species (see North
American taxa).
Floral structure:
gynoecium, especially the styles,
often petaloid or otherwise modified in interesting ways
Significant features: Similar
to the Liliaceae, i.e., erect or scapose
perennial herbs with linear, 'monocot-like' leaves and various shoot features
of the herbaceous perennial (bud, rhizome, corm, etc.). Leaf arrangement
in this family is often equitant (two-ranked and overlapping). Flowers
usually perfect, actinomorphic, and showy with petaloid calyx like the
lilies but most Iridaceae show epigyny,
3 stamens, and a capsular fruit.
Iris pallida
Overview from Kohler's
Medicinal Plants
from the local flora:
|
|
|
|
Herbertia lahue
|
Alophia drummondii
|
Sisyrinchium sp.
|
Crocus sativus (Overview
from Kohler's
Medicinal Plants):
More information on the
Iridaceae
Return to Lecture
Notes, the Botany
201 homepage, or the Liliidae
page
