Dutch babiaan – baboon, as they eat the corms.
Perennial herbs, dormant in summer, generally hairy. Corms ovoid; tunics fibrous. Leaves pleated, narrowed into a stalk at base, in 2 loose rows on the lower part of stem. Stem usually branched above. Spathes short, green. Flowers several, irregular, usually blue. Stamens arched on upper side of perianth tube. Style branches undivided.
65 species southern Africa and Socotra.
Offsets.
Hairy, ribbed leaves narrowed into a stalk at the base; blue flowers.
Lewis (1959), Lepschi & Manning (2000).
Source: (2005). Iridaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
