''Sparaxis'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s called the harlequin flowers. It belongs to the iris 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 ...

with about 13 species endemic to

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. All are

perennials In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

that grow during the wet winter season, flower in spring and survive underground as dormant

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 ...

s over summer. Their conspicuous flowers have six

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s, which in most species are equal in size and shape. '' Sparaxis bulbifera'' has flowers from cream to yellow or purple. '' Sparaxis grandiflora'' is a similar but larger plant. In cultivation in the UK it has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

. '' Sparaxis tricolor'' has bright red flowers with yellow and black centres. Many named hybrid

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s were bred from ''S. bulbifera'' and ''S. tricolor''. A group of species with asymmetrical flowers marked in mauve and yellow, including ''

Sparaxis variegata ''Sparaxis'' is a genus of flowering plants called the harlequin flowers. It belongs to the iris family Iridaceae with about 13 species endemic to Cape Province, South Africa. All are perennial flowers, perennials that grow during the wet winter ...

'' and '' Sparaxis villosa'', was formerly treated as the genus ''Synnotia''. The genus name is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

word ''sparasso'', meaning "to tear", and alludes to the shape of the floral bracts.

Species

* '' Sparaxis auriculata'' Goldblatt & J.C.Manning * '' Sparaxis bulbifera'' ( L.) Ker Gawl. * '' Sparaxis calcicola'' Goldblatt & J.C.Manning * '' Sparaxis caryophyllacea'' Goldblatt * '' Sparaxis elegans'' (

Sweet Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones, ...

) Goldblatt * '' Sparaxis fragrans'' ( Jacq.) Ker Gawl. * '' Sparaxis galeata'' Ker Gawl. * '' Sparaxis grandiflora '' ( D.Delaroche) Ker Gawl. ** ''Sparaxis grandiflora'' subsp. ''grandiflora'' ( D.Delaroche) Ker Gawl. ** ''Sparaxis grandiflora'' subsp. ''acutiloba'' Goldblatt ** ''Sparaxis grandiflora'' subsp. fimbriata ( Lam.) Goldblatt ** ''Sparaxis grandiflora'' subsp. ''violacea'' ( Eckl.) Goldblatt * '' Sparaxis maculosa'' Goldblatt * '' Sparaxis metelerkampiae'' ( L.Bolus) Goldblatt & J.C.Manning * '' Sparaxis parviflora'' ( G.J.Lewis) Goldblatt * '' Sparaxis pillansii'' L.Bolus * '' Sparaxis roxburghii'' (

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient histo ...

) Goldblatt * '' Sparaxis tricolor'' ( Schneev.) Ker Gawl. * ''

'' (

) Goldblatt * '' Sparaxis villosa'' ( Burm.f.) Goldblatt

References

External links

* *Goldblatt, P. (1999). Sparaxis. ''Flora of Southern Africa'' 7: 151–169.
Flora of North America
{{Taxonbar, from=Q124864 Iridaceae genera Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces