Iridaceae
Saffron Family
The Iridaceae family (Saffron Family) is a botanical family placed in the order Asparagales. In the SASYA catalogue it spans 4 species across 3 genera. Its members are predominantly herbs. Well-represented genera include Iris, Belamcanda and Trimezia. Several members are valued in traditional medicine. Familiar examples include Leopard Flower, Blackberry Lily and wall iris.
Browse all 4 species ↓
Sword-shaped or grass-like leaves arising in a flattened fan from an underground bulb, corm, or rhizome; showy flowers have three petals and three near-identical petal-like sepals, with an inferior ovary sitting below them.
Saffron, the world's most expensive spice by weight, is hand-harvested from just three tiny stigma threads inside each flower of one family member, Crocus sativus.
Which Iridaceae species is this?
Answer what you can see and narrow it down to a single Iridaceae species.
Typical flower & fruit
- Flower symmetryZygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
- InflorescenceVariable
- FruitVariable
Typical of the family — flowering plants only; species can vary.
Notable members
All 4 species in IRIDACEAE
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