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Genus: Chasmanthe Life
> eukaryotes >
Archaeoplastida >
Chloroplastida
>
Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants)
> Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants)
> Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering
plants) > Monocotyledons > Order: Asparagales
> Family: Iridaceae
Three species, endemic to the Western
Cape and Eastern Cape, occurring usually in bushy places or on forest margins.
Closely related to the genus Crocosmia.
Species native to southern Africa
List from
Plants
of Southern Africa - an Online Checklist (SANBI).
Seeds are bright orange and are thought to be dispersed by
birds. Flowers are pollinated by sunbirds. Adaptations of the flower for
pollination include (Goldblatt & Manning 2000):
- tubular shape
- upper tepals longer than lower tepals.
- anthers protruding from the tube (i.e. exserted
anthers); and
- orange or red colour.
Publications
-
de Vos, M.P. 1985. Revision of the South
African genus Chasmanthe (Iridaceae). South African Journal of
Botany 51: 253-261.
-
de Vos, M.P. 1999. Ixia, Tritonia,
Crocosmia, Duthieastrum, Chasmanthe. Flora of southern Africa 7,2,
fascicle 1: 1-147.
-
Goldblatt, P. & Manning, J.C. 2000.
Iridaceae. In: In: Seed Plants of
Southern Africa (ed. O.A. Leistner). Strelitzia 10: 623-638.
National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
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