Genus: Aristea
Life
> eukaryotes >
Archaeoplastida >
Chloroplastida
>
Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants)
> Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants)
> Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering
plants) > Monocotyledons > Order: Asparagales
> Family: Iridaceae
About 52 species, mainly southern African
but the distribution of this genus extends to Senegal and Ethiopia, and there
are seven species on Madagascar. Forty-six species are native to southern
Africa.
Species native to southern Africa
List from
Plants
of Southern Africa - an Online Checklist (SANBI),
Flora of
Zimbabwe and
Flora of
Mozambique.
Three main types of pollination have been discerned in
this genus (Goldblatt & Manning 2000):
- Most species are pollinated by bees and have flowers
that open in the early morning and fade by midday or by early afternoon.
- A few species in the southwestern Cape are pollinated
by monkey
beetles (Hopliini)
and have flowers with dark markings that last the entire day.
- Aristea spiralis produces nectar and is probably
pollinated by long-proboscid flies in the genus Philoliche (Diptera: Tabanidae).
Publications
- Goldblatt, P. 1995. Notes on Aristea Aiton (Iridaceae:
Nivenioideae): taxonomy, chromosome cytology, and
phylogeny. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 82:
139–145.
- Goldblatt, P., Dold, A.P. and Manning, J.C. 2005. Three cryptic new
species of Aristea (Iridaceae) from southern Africa. Bothalia 35(1):
1-6.
- Goldblatt, P. & Le Thomas, A. 1997. Palynology,
phylogenetic reconstruction and the classification of the
Afro-Madagascan genus Aristea Aiton (Iridaceae).
Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 84: 263–284.
- Goldblatt, P., Le Thomas, A. & Suarez-Cervera,
M. 1996. Deux types polliniques originaux dans le genre Aristea (Iridaceae–Nivenioideae): implications
phylogéniques. Grana 35: 87–96.
- Goldblatt, P. & Manning, J.C. 1997. New species of Aristea
(Iridaceae) from South Africa and notes on the
taxonomy and pollination biology of Section
Pseudaristea. Novon 7: 137–144.
-
Goldblatt, P. & Manning, J.C. 2000.
Iridaceae. In: In: Seed Plants of
Southern Africa (ed. O.A. Leistner). Strelitzia 10: 623-638.
National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
- Oliver, E.G.H. 1976. Aristea lugens. Flowering Plants
of Africa 43: t.1708.
- Vincent, P.L.D. 1985. A partial revision of the genus Aristea
(Iridaceae) in South Africa. South African
Journal of Botany 51: 209–252.
-
Weimarck, H. 1940. Monograph of the genus Aristea.
Acta universitatis lundensis (Lunds universitets årsskrift) N.F.
Avd. 2, 36(1): 1-140.
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