Irideae is a tribe included in the well-known family

Iridaceae Iridaceae () is a family of plants in order Asparagales, taking its name from the Iris (plant), irises. It has a nearly global distribution, with 69 accepted genera with a total of about 2500 species. It includes a number of economically importan ...

. It contains many species in five genera which are widely distributed in the

Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...

. The tribe derives its name from '' Iris'', which is the largest genus of the tribe. The blooms, borne in an inflorescence and often scented, have six petals, these being identical only in the genus '' Ferraria''. The ovary is 3-locular and contains seeds which are usually circular and pellet-like. Members of the tribe bear typically sword-shaped leaves and the rootstock is usually

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

corm Corm, bulbo-tuber, or bulbotuber is a short, vertical, swollen, underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ that some plants use to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (perennation). The word ''c ...

. Only two subgenera of '' Iris'' have

bulb In botany, a bulb is a short underground stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

s. These are '' Xiphium'' and '' Hermodactyloides''. Many of the species are popular ornamental plants, but many are threatened with extinction. List of genera: * '' Bobartia'' * ''

Dietes ''Dietes'' is a genus of six rhizomatous plant species of the iris family Iridaceae, first described collectively in 1866. Common names for the different species include wood iris, fortnight lily, African iris, Japanese iris and butterfly iris. ...

'' * '' Ferraria'' * '' Iris'' * ''

Moraea ''Moraea'', the Cape tulips, is a genus of plants in the family Iridaceae, first described as a genus in 1758. The group is widespread across Africa, the Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6069603 Iridaceae Asparagales tribes