Iridaceae

Iridaceae Juss., Gen. Pl. 57. 1789. nom. cons. 'Iris Family'

Salient Features

Members are perennial herbs with rhizomes, corms or bulbs.
Leaves equitant, with sheathing base.
Flowers in a bracteates spike, or panicle or solitary, or monochasial cyme.
Flowers bisexual, sepals petaloid, petals often spotted.
Stamens three, opposite sepals,
Gynoecium of 3 united carpels, ovary inferior, with 3 locules and axile placentation, style 3 lobed in upper part, sometimes petaloid.
Fruit a loculicidal capsule.

Diversity:

World- 80 genera, 2315 species (The Plant List 2013); 66 genera, 2244 species (Christenhusz & Byng 2016); 72 genera, 2200 species (Mabberley 2017); 70 genera, 2531 species (Roskov et al. 2021)
India - 5 genera, 21 species (Karthikeyan 2000); 4 genera, 27 species (BSI, 2021)
Indian Himalaya- 6 genera, 27 species (Singh et al. 2019)
Uttarakhand - 7 genera, 16 species (Uniyal et al. 2007)

General Characters:

Iridaceae in Watson & Dallwitz (1992 onwards)
Iridaceae in Stevens (2001 onwards)
Iridaceae in POWO 2021 (Plants of the World Online)
Iridaceae in Wikipedia

Systematic Position of Family in Different Systems of Classifications:

Systematic position in 2-Superkingdom, 7-Kingdom classification of Ruggiero et al. (2015)

Super Kingdom- Eukaryota, Kingdom- Plantae, Subkingdom- Viridiplantae, Infrakingdom- Streptophyta, Superphylum- Embryophyta, Phylum- Tracheophyta, Subphylum- Spermatophytina, Superclass- Angiospermae, Class- Magnoliopsida, Superorder- Lilianae, Order- Asparagales

Bentham & Hooker (1862-83)

Class : Monocotyledons
Series : Epigynae

Engler & Prantl (1887-1915)

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Embryophyta Siphonogama
Subdivision : Angiospermae
Class : Monocotyledoneae
Order : Liliflorae
Suborder : Iridineae

Hutchinson (1973)

Phylum : Angiospermae
Subphylum : Monocotyledones
Division : Corolliferae
Order : Iridales

Cronquist (1988)

Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Liliopsida
Subclass : Liliidae
Order : Liliales

Thorne & Reveal (2007)

Class : Magnoliopsida
Subclass : Liliidae
Super Order: Lilianae
Order : Liliales

Takhtajan (2009)

Phylum : Magnoliophyta
Class : Liliopsida
Subclass : Liliidae
Super Order : Lilianae
Order : Iridales

Reveal (2012)

Class : Equisetopsida
Subclass : Magnoliidae
Super Order : Lilianae
Order : Iridales
Suborder : Iridineae

APG-IV (2016)

Clade : Angiosperms
Clade : Monocots
Order : Asparagales

Shipunov (2020)

Class : Angiospermae
Subclass : Liliidae
Order : Liliales
Suborder : Orchidineae

Genera & Species in Pantnagar

To see larger images please click on the names

Cultivated Flora

Gladiolus x hortulanus L.H.Bailey.

Vernacular name: Sword lily, Glads

Nativity: Ofhybrid origin

Common Characteristics:Medium sized herb. Corm enveloped by fibrous tunics. Leaves sword shaped. Flower spike one sided and subtended by bracts.

Flowering period: August to September and January to May

Propagation Methods:Multiplied by corms and cormels (Dave’s Garden)

Photographed @ MFC