Crocosmia

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Ordo: Asparagales

Familia: Iridaceae
Subfamilia: Crocoideae
Tribus: Freesieae
Genus: Crocosmia
Species: C. ambongensis – C. aurea – C. fucata – C. masoniorum – C. mathewsiana – C. paniculata – C. pearsei – C. pottsii
Nothospecies: C. ×crocosmiiflora
Name

Crocosmia Planch. (1851)

Type species: Crocosmia aurea (Pappe ex Hook.) Planch.

Synonyms

Homotypic
Tritonia sect. Crocosma (Planch.) Baker, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 16: 163. 1877.
Heterotypic
Crocanthus Klotzsch ex Klatt in W.C.H.Peters, Naturw. Reise Mossambique: 516. 1864, nom. nud. non L.Bolus (1927).
Type species: non design.
Curtonus N.E.Br., Trans. Roy. Soc. South Africa 20: 270. 1932.
Type species: Curtonus paniculatus (Klatt) N.E.Br.

References

Farr, E.R. & Zijlstra, G. (eds.) 1996 onwards. Crocosmia in Index Nominum Genericorum (Plantarum). Accessed: 2013 Feb 10.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2013. Crocosmia in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2013 Feb 10. Reference page.
Planchon, J.É. 1851. Fl. Serres Jard. Eur. 7: 161.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Crocosmia Planch. in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 2016-02-18.
Crocosmia Planch. – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
Crocosmia – Taxon details on National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).
Global Biodiversity Information Facility. 2019. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset. Taxon: Crocosmia.
EOL: Crocosmia

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Montbretien
English: Monbretia
suomi: Ruostekukat
日本語: ヒオウギズイセン属, クロコスミア属
lietuvių: Montbretė
svenska: Montbretiasläktet

Crocosmia (/krəˈkɒzmiə, kroʊ-/;[2][3]), also known as montbretia,[4] is a small genus of flowering plants in the iris family, Iridaceae. It is native to the grasslands of southern and eastern Africa, ranging from South Africa to Sudan. One species is endemic to Madagascar.[1]

Description

They can be evergreen or deciduous perennials that grow from basal underground corms. The alternate leaves are cauline and ensiform (sword shaped). The blades are parallel-veined. The margin is entire. The corms form in vertical chains with the youngest at the top and oldest and largest buried most deeply in the soil. The roots of the lowermost corm in a chain are contractile roots and drag the corm deeper into the ground where conditions allow. The chains of corms are fragile and easily separated, a quality that has enabled some species to become invasive and difficult to control in the garden.

They have colourful inflorescences of 4 to 20 vivid red and orange subopposite flowers on a divaricately (horizontally) branched stem. The terminal inflorescence can have the form of a cyme or a raceme. These flower from early summer well into fall. The flowers are sessile on a flexuose arched spike. The fertile flowers are hermaphroditic. All stamens have an equal length. The style branches are apically forked. They are pollinated by insects, birds (sunbirds) or by the wind. The dehiscent capsules are shorter than they are wide.

The alternative name montbretia is still widely used. The genus name is derived from the Greek words krokos, meaning "saffron", and osme, meaning "odor" – from the dried leaves emitting a strong smell like that of saffron (a spice derived from Crocus – another genus belonging to the Iridaceae) – when immersed in hot water.[5]

Species

Species accepted by World Checklist of Selected Plant Families[1]

Crocosmia ambongensis (H.Perrier) Goldblatt & J. C. Manning [af] – Madagascar
Crocosmia aurea (Pappe ex Hook.) Planch. (Falling Stars) – eastern + southern Africa from Cape Province to Sudan; naturalised in Azores
Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora (Lemoine) N.E.Br. - South Africa; naturalised in parts of Europe, Rwanda, Zaire, Assam, Norfolk Island in Australia, Fiji, the Caribbean, Argentina, Tristan da Cunha (C. aurea × C. pottsii)
Crocosmia fucata (Lindl.) M.P.de Vos – Kamiesberg Mountains in Cape Province of South Africa
Crocosmia masoniorum (L.Bolus) N.E.Br. (Giant montbretia) – Cape Province, KwaZulu-Natal
Crocosmia mathewsiana (L.Bolus) Goldblatt ex M.P.de Vos – Drakensberg Mountains in Mpumalanga
Crocosmia paniculata (Klatt) Goldblatt (Aunt Eliza) – Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa
Crocosmia pearsei Oberm. – Lesotho, Free State, Drakensberg Mountains in Mpumalanga
Crocosmia pottsii (Baker) N.E.Br. (Pott's montbretia) – Cape Province, KwaZulu-Natal

Garden hybrids

Crocosmia × curtonus[6]
Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora

Cultivation

Crocosmias are grown worldwide, and more than 400 cultivars have been produced. Some hybrids have become invasive, especially C. × crocosmiiflora hybrids, which are invasive in the UK, Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, the American Pacific Northwest, and probably elsewhere.

Crocosmia are winter-hardy in temperate regions. They can be propagated through division, removing offsets from the corm in spring.

The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:

Crocosmia 'Hellfire' [7]
Crocosmia 'Lucifer'[8]
Crocosmia masoniorum[9]
Crocosmia 'Paul's Best Yellow' [10]
Crocosmia 'Severn Sunrise'[11]
Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora 'Babylon' [12]
Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora 'Star of the East'[13]

Other cultivars include:

Crocosmia curtonus 'Lucifer', scarlet

Gallery

Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora corms in winter

Close-up of Crocosmia 'Lucifer' in bloom

Montbretia, south Manchester, England

References

Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
"Crocosmia". Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
"Crocosmia". Oxford Dictionaries UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. n.d. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 978-1405332965.
Manning, John; Goldblatt, Peter (2008). The Iris Family: Natural History & Classification. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. pp. 144–47. ISBN 978-0-88192-897-6.
Missouri Botanical Gardens
"Crocosmia 'Hellfire'". RHS. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
"RHS Plant Selector - Crocosmia 'Lucifer'". Retrieved 15 April 2020.
"RHS Plant Selector - Crocosmia masoniorum". Retrieved 15 April 2020.
"Crocosmia 'Paul's Best Yellow'". RHS. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
"RHS Plant Selector - Crocosmia 'Severn Sunrise'". Retrieved 15 April 2020.
"Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora 'Babylon'". RHS. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
"RHS Plant Selector - Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora 'Star of the East' '". RHS. Retrieved 5 May 2020.