Freesia
FreesiaSmall perennial herb, leaves and flowers annual; corm ovoid, with outer layers of netted fine pale fibres. Leaves mostly basal, narrowly ovate to ensiform, flat, soft, with prominent midveins. Inflorescence with scape usually erect, flexed horizontally below the flowers which are densely arranged on one side of the axis; primary bracts herbaceous or membranous; the basal ('outer') bract entire; the distal ('inner') bract bifid. Flowers erect, zygomorphic; perianth tube curved, narrowly cylindric basally, widened abruptly into cylindric to funnel-shaped distal portion, lobes sub-equal to unequal, shorter than tube; stamens asymmetrically arranged to one side of the flower, anthers oblong, basifixed; style arched behind stamens, with 3 short, linear branches, each branch bifid, recurved, stigmas 6. Capsule obloid, papillose; seeds globose, smooth.
11 species in southern Africa. Several species and their hybrids are cultivated as garden ornamentals. A range of hybrids between 2 of these species are naturalised in Australia.
Conn, B.J. (1994). Iridaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons, pp. 686–716. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning
