Tigridia
Tigridia /taɪˈɡrɪdiə/, is a genus of bulbous or cormous flowering plants belonging to the family Iridaceae. With common names including peacock flowers, tiger-flowers or shell flowers, they have large showy flowers; and one species, Tigridia pavonia, is often cultivated for this. The approximately 60 species in this family grow in the Americas, from Mexico down to Chile.
| Tigridia | |
|---|---|
| Tigridia pavonia in Mexico | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Iridaceae |
| Subfamily: | Iridoideae |
| Tribe: | Tigridieae |
| Genus: | Tigridia Juss. |
| Type species | |
| Tigridia pavonia | |
| Synonyms | |
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The tigridia flower is short lived, each often blooming for only one day, but often several flowers will bloom from the same stalk. Usually they are dormant during the winter dry-season. The roots are edible and were eaten by the Aztecs of Mexico who called it cacomitl, and its flower ocēlōxōchitl "jaguar flower".
It was first published by French botanist Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in his book Genera plantarum on page 57 in 1789.
The genus name Tigridia means "tiger-like", and alludes to the coloration and spotting of the flowers of the type species Tigridia pavonia.