Greek galaxias – the Milky Way, as the star-like flowers appear in large colonies.
Perennial herbs, dormant in summer. Corms globose, tunic fibrous. Leaves basal, flattened or channelled, usually with hairy margins. Flowers solitary between two bracts at ground level, usually lasting 1 day. Perianth tube vertical, trumpet-shaped; segments equal. Stamens almost completely connate. Style erect, slender, with 3 flat stigmatic lobes.
14 species in South Africa, sometimes included in Moraea.
Offsets or seed.
Flowers produced at ground level; with long tube; joined stamens and flattened stigma.
Goldblatt (1979, 1998).
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.
