Genera within a family

Family: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Iris, the daughter of Thaumas and Electra; on both her paternal and maternal sides she was descended from Oceanus. She was the personification of the rainbow and more generally of the relationship between heaven and earth, and between gods and men, which the rainbow represents. She was most often shown with wings, dressed in thin silk, which in sunlight had the colours of the rainbow.

So Iris, in her thousand-coloured mantle,
A rainbow through the sky, sought out the place
Under the cloud, the royal home of sleep
The Maiden Goddess
Entered, using her hands to part the dreams,
To clear her way, and the shining of her garments
Brightened the holy home, and the god saw her
And, her instruction given, Iris left him,
For all too soon the magic spell of slumber
Was stealing through her limbs, and she soared upward
Along the rainbow arch she had descended.
From Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Translation by Rolfe Humphries.)

(PG, RW)

ARISTEA (G, La)
Aristea, Blousuurkanol (Le)

aristos, aristo-, = best of its kind.
aristeia, = the prize of the bravest.
-eus, = indicates material or colour or resemblance in quality.
(aristos, best, noblest or aristeia, excellence or prize to the best and bravest)
(LS, ld, BL, Le)

BABIANA [Now BARTSIA]
Babiana, Bobbejaantjie (Le)

Generic name is an anglicised version - "Babianer" - of the Afrikaans 'bobbejane'.

Vernacular Dutch 'baviaantjie', or its Cape corruption 'bobbejaantjie' for small baboons.
(baboons are partial to the corms).
(M, Le)

BOBARTIA
Rush Iris (Wf) Rush Lily, Blombiesie (Le)

For Jacob Bobart (1599-1680),** German botanist, the first Horti Praefectus (Superintendent, Head Gardener) of the Oxford Physic Garden.
His son, Jacob Bobart the Younger (1641-1719), succeeded his father as Horti Praefectus and became acting Professor of Botany at Oxford.
The genus Bobartia was published in 1753 by Linnaeus.
(Ch)

CHASMANTHE (G)
Cobra Lily, Kapelpypie (Le)

khasma, = a yawning hollow, a chasm, gulf;
anthos, = a flower, the bloom of a flower.
(shape of the corolla)
(LS, Le)

FERRARIA
Spider Iris (Wf) Spider Lily, Spinnekopblom (Le)

For Giovanni Battista Ferrari (1584-1655).**
(Ch)

FREESIA
Freesia, Kammetjie (Le)

For Friedrich Heinrich Theodor Freese (1795-1876).**
(Ch)

GEISSORHIZA (G)
Wine Cup (Wf) Satin Flower, Sysie (Le)

geisson, = anything projecting so as to shelter, the eaves of a roof, the cornice, coping; the hem of a garment;
rhiza, = a root.
(regular overlapping of the corm tunics in some species)
(LS, Le)

GLADIOLUS (La)
Gladiolus, Afrikaner, Pypie (Le)

gladius, = a sword;
-olus, = diminutive.
gladiolus, = a small sword.
(a small sword; shape of the leaves)
(ld, BL, Le)

HESPERANTHA (G)
Hesperantha, Aandblom (Le)

Hesperus, = the spirit of the evening star, said to be the son or brother of Atlas;
(evening)
anthos, = a flower, the bloom of a flower.
(flowers of many species open towards evening)
(Pg, BL, LS, Le)

IXIA (G)
Ixia, Kalossie (Le)

Ixia is a name in Greek and Latin for a plant also called CHAMELION (also meaning an inconstant or variable person), a kind of thistle yielding an acrid resin.
ixia, = name of a plant noted for its variability of colour.
Ixion**, was a Thessalian king, who ruled over the Lapiths.
ixos, = mistletoe, viscum, birdlime.
(viscous sap)
(Ox, M, PG, LS, Le)

KLATTIA
Kwasbos (Le)

For Friedrich Wilhelm Klatt (1825-1897).**
(Ch)

LAPEIROUSIA
Lapeirusia, Cabong (Le)

For Philippe Picot de Lapeyrouse (Lapeirouse) Baron de Bazus (1744-1818).**
(Ch)

MICRANTHUS (G)
Comb Flower, Vleiblommetjie (Le)

mikros, = little, small; petty, mean, trivial insignificant;
anthos, = a flower, the bloom of a flower.
(small-flowered)
(LS, BL)

MORAEA
Moraea, Uintjie (Le)

Named after Dr Johan Moraeus,** and not Robert More, squire of Shrewsbury in the 18th century.
(Ch)

PILLANSIA

For Neville Pillans (1884 - 1964).**
(Ch)

ROMULEA
Romulea, Frutang, Knikkertjie (Le)

After the legendary Romulus.**
(The genus is represented in Italy)
(Ch, Le)

SPARAXIS (G)
Sparaxis, Cape Buttercup, Fluweeltjie (Le)

sparasso, = to tear or rend in pieces, mangle; to rend, cleave, attack savagely.
(lacerated bracts)

(LS, Le)

THEREIANTHUS (G, La)
Somerpypie (Le)

thereios, = of or belonging to summer, in summer;
anthos, = a flower, the bloom of a flower.
(summer-flowering)
(LS, K3)

TRITONIA (La)
Tritonia, Basterkalkoentjie (Le)

After Triton;**
Triton, = weathercock;
-ium, = means ‘characteristic of’, hence indicates connection or resemblance.
(variable positions of the stamens)
(BL, Le)

TRITONIOPSIS (La)
Snake Flower (Le)

TRITONIA (q.v.);
-opsis, = aspect, appearance, hence 'resemblance'.
(BL)

WATSONIA
Watsonia, Kanolpypie (Le)

Named by Philip Miller for his friend Sir William Watson (1715 - 1787).**
(Ch)

WITSENIA
Bokmakierie's Tail, Bokmakieriestert (Le)

For Nicholaas (Nicolaes) Witsen (1641 – 1717).**
(Ch, Cl)

NIVENIA

For James Niven (1776-1827).**
(Ch)

CODONORHIZA (G)
Lapeirousia, Cabong (Le)

codon, = a bell;
rhiza, = root.

(LS)