Series: Strelitzia Volume: 18
104 pages, 6 plates with colour photos; 15 b/w line drawings, 48 b/w ddistribution maps
A member of Iridaceae subfamily Crocoideae,
Series: Strelitzia Volume: 18
104 pages, 6 plates with colour photos; 15 b/w line drawings, 48 b/w ddistribution maps
A member of Iridaceae subfamily Crocoideae, Babiana Ker Gawl. is a genus of some 88 species of southern and central Africa. Although considered relatively well known as a result of G.J. Lewis's (1959) monograph, in which 61 species were recognised, subsequent exploration has resulted in the discovery of many more species. Three new species have been described since 1959, and in 1990 two more were transferred from Antholyza L., a genus differing from Babiana only in floral adaptations for sunbird pollination. Our taxonomic philosophy, strongly oriented toward the biology of the plants, has led us to adopt a narrower species concept than Lewis entertained and this has led to the recognition of more species. The taxonomy of Babiana now requires thorough re-evaluation. Babiana is divided into three sections: the more generalised section Teretifolieae G.J. Lewis; the derived section Babiana with inner bracts divided to the base; and section Antholyzoides Benth. & Hook.f, with bilabiate flowers with clawed tepals and a short perianth tube. Two of the five sections of Lewis's (1959) classification, Acaste and Scariosae, are included in section Babiana, and those species of her section Babiana with inner bracts forked apically, or to the middle, are transferred to section Teretifolieae. The Socotran B. socotrana Hook.f, which differs from all other members of the genus in its trisulcate pollen grains, basic chromosom