Iridoideae

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Iridoideae
Iris pseudacorus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Iridaceae
Subfamily: Iridoideae
Eaton
tribes

Iridoideae subfamily is one of the two main subfamilies in the popular Iridaceae family. It contains the best-known genus - Iris. The members of this subfamily are wildly distributed all over the world. They grows in all of the continents except Antarctica.

They produces typical sword-shaped leaves and have mainly corms or rhizomes. There are some exceptions which have bulbs. These are two subgenera of Iris - Xiphium and Hermodactyloides.

The blooms, which are often scented, are arranged in often terminal inflorescences. Each flower has six petals. In the most cases three of them are well separated from the others and are specialized in different functions. However some are not as in Nemastylis. Nectar is produced in their base. In some of the species the stamens are partially fused with the petals.

The 3-locular seed capsule contain the seeds which are often circular, flat in some cases drop-like grains or black or sometimes other coloured such as the orange of Iris pseudoacorus.

The species in the subfamily are often used as ornamental plants such as Iris and Tigridia. There are also species members which are at risk in their natural environment such as some subspecies of Ferraria crispa and Moraea villosa.

Media related to Iridoideae at Wikimedia Commons


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