''Drimia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s. In the APG IV classification system, it is placed in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae (formerly the family Hyacinthaceae). When broadly

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

, the genus includes a number of other genera previously treated separately, including ''Litanthus'', ''Rhodocodon'', ''Schizobasis'' and ''Urginea''. One of the best-known species is the sea squill, ''

Drimia maritima ''Drimia maritima'' ( syn. ''Urginea maritima'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae (formerly the family Hyacinthaceae). This species is known by several common names, including squill, sea squill, ...

'' (formerly ''Urginea maritima''). ''

Drimia intricata ''Drimia'' is a genus of flowering plants. In the APG IV classification system, it is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae (formerly the family Hyacinthaceae). When broadly circumscribed, the genus includes a number of oth ...

'' (formerly ''Schizobasis intricata'') is sometimes cultivated as a bulbous or succulent plant.

Description

''Drimia'' species are usually

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

, more rarely evergreen, growing from bulbs. The bulbs may be underground or occur on or near the surface. Each bulb has one to several leaves that are often dry by the time the flowers open. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

is in the form of a raceme, with one to many flowers. At least the lower inflorescence bracts have spurs (a characteristic of the tribe Urgineeae). The individual flowers generally last for only one to two days and have white to yellowish green or brown

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s that are either free or joined into a basal tube. The tepals often have a darker central keel. After fertilization, an ovoid capsule forms with several seeds in each locule. The seeds are black and winged.

Taxonomy

A formal description of genus ''Drimia'' first appeared in the fourth edition of '' Species Plantarum'', published in 1799, authored by

Carl Ludwig Willdenow Carl Ludwig Willdenow (22 August 1765 – 10 July 1812) was a German botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist. He is considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants. Willdenow was al ...

. The name was attributed to Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin. When describing ''

Drimia elata ''Drimia elata'' ("Satin squill") is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. It is widely distributed in eastern and southern Africa. Description ''Drimia elata'' is a perennial, growing from a bulb wi ...

'' (the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

of the genus) in a work published in 1797, Jacquin said that he was unable to assign it to one of the known genera, and so constructed a new one. The name is erived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''drimeia'', the feminine form of the adjective ''drimys'' meaning "bitter" or "acrid", referring to the root.. The boundaries between genera within the Scilloideae are not completely settled. The situation has been described as being in a "state of flux". As early as 1977, it was suggested that ''Urginea'' be merged into ''Drimia'', although other small genera continued to be kept separate. In 2000,

Peter Goldblatt Peter Goldblatt (born 1943) is a South African botanist, working principally in the United States. Life Goldblatt was born in Johannesburg, South Africa on October 8, 1943. His undergraduate studies (B.Sc.) were undertaken at the University ...

and

John Charles Manning John Charles Manning (born 1962) is a South African botanist based in the Compton Herbarium, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Kirstenbosch, South Africa. References External sources 20th-century South African botanists ...

proposed including other related genera, including ''Litanthus'', ''Rhadamanthus'' and ''Schizobasis'', a position supported later by some molecular phylogenetic studies. This broad

circumscription Circumscription may refer to: *Circumscribed circle * Circumscription (logic) *Circumscription (taxonomy) *Circumscription theory, a theory about the origins of the political state in the history of human evolution proposed by the American anthrop ...

of ''Drimia'' is accepted by the

World Checklist of Selected Plant Families The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (usually abbreviated to WCSP) is an "international collaborative programme that provides the latest peer reviewed and published opinions on the accepted scientific names and synonyms of selected pla ...

. Other sources prefer to maintain a larger number of segregate genera. Regardless of whether a broad or strict view is taken of ''Drimia'', it is placed in the tribe Urgineeae of the subfamily Scilloideae (or the subfamily Urgineoideae of the family Hyacinthaceae if this family is separated from Asparagaceae).

''Litanthus'' group

The genus ''Litanthus'' was for a long time monotypic, with the sole species ''L. pusillus'', before in 2000 Goldblatt and Manning included it in ''Drimia''. A further species, ''Drimia stenocarpa'', was added to the group in 2014. The ''Litanthus'' group is characterized by one- or occasionally two-flowered inflorescences with drooping tubular flowers whose tepals are united at the base for more than half their length.

''Rhodocodon'' group

The genus ''Rhodocodon'' was included in ''Drimia'' by Goldblatt and Manning in 2000. The species of ''Rhodocodon'', or the ''Rhodocodon'' group within ''Drimia'', including ''D. cryptopoda'', form a well supported clade endemic to Madagascar. They appear to be the product of a single invasion of Madagascar by an African species. A total of 13 species are recognized by those who separate the genus from ''Drimia''.

''Schizobasis'' group

The genus ''Schizobasis'' was included in ''Drimia'' by Goldblatt and Manning in 2000. As many as eight species have been described, but in 2014 these were reduced to two: ''Drimia intricata'', including all the previously described species, and the new species ''Drimia sigmoidea''. The ''Schizobasis'' group is distinguished by its well branched, thin-stemmed inflorescence and small,

filiform Filiform, thread or filament like, can refer to: * Filiform, a common term used in botany to describe a thread-like shape *Filiform, or filiform catheter In medicine, a catheter (/ˈkæθətər/) is a thin tubing (material), tube made from m ...

leaves that are found only in seedlings, disappearing in mature plants.

Species

, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families accepted 100 species:Search for "Drimia", *'' Drimia acarophylla'' E.Brink & A.P.Dold *'' Drimia albiflora'' (B.Nord.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia altissima'' (L.f.) Ker Gawl. *'' Drimia anomala'' (Baker) Baker *'' Drimia aphylla'' (Forssk.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia arenicola'' (B.Nord.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia aurantiaca'' (H.Lindb.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia barkerae'' Oberm. ex J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia basutica'' (E.Phillips) ined. *'' Drimia brachystachys'' (Baker) Stedje *'' Drimia calcarata'' (Baker) Stedje *'' Drimia capensis'' (Burm.f.) Wijnands *'' Drimia chalumnensis'' A.P.Dold & E.Brink *'' Drimia ciliata'' (L.f.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia cochlearis'' Mart.-Azorín *'' Drimia congesta'' Bullock *'' Drimia convallarioides'' (L.f.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia cremnophila'' van Jaarsv. *'' Drimia cryptopoda'' (Baker) Pfosser *'' Drimia cyanelloides'' (Baker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia delagoensis'' (Baker) Jessop *'' Drimia dregei'' (Baker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia duthieae'' (Adamson) Jessop *'' Drimia echinostachya'' (Baker) Eggli & N.R.Crouch *'' Drimia edwardsii'' N.R.Crouch & Mart.-Azorín *''

'' Jacq. *'' Drimia excelsa'' J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia exigua'' Stedje *'' Drimia exuviata'' (Jacq.) Jessop *'' Drimia fasciata'' (B.Nord.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia filifolia'' (Poir.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia fimbrimarginata'' Snijman *'' Drimia flagellaris'' T.J.Edwards *'' Drimia fragrans'' (Jacq.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia fugax'' (Moris) Stearn *'' Drimia glaucescens'' (Engl. & K.Krause) H.Scholz *'' Drimia guineensis'' (Speta) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia haworthioides'' Baker *'' Drimia hesperantha'' J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia hesperia'' (Webb & Berthel.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia hockii'' De Wild. *'' Drimia hyacinthoides'' Baker *'' Drimia incerta'' A.Chev. ex Hutch. *'' Drimia indica'' (Roxb.) Jessop *''

'' (Baker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia involuta'' (J.C.Manning & Snijman) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia johnstonii'' (Baker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia kniphofioides'' (Baker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia laxiflora'' Baker *'' Drimia ledermannii'' K.Krause *'' Drimia ligulata'' J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia loedolffiae'' van Jaarsv. *'' Drimia macrantha'' (Baker) Baker *'' Drimia macrocarpa'' Stedje *'' Drimia macrocentra'' (Baker) Jessop *'' Drimia marginata'' (Thunb.) Jessop *''

'' (L.) Stearn *'' Drimia mascarenensis'' (Baker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia maura'' (Maire) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia media'' Jacq. ex Willd. *'' Drimia minuta'' Goldblatt & J.C.Manning *'' Drimia multifolia'' (G.J.Lewis) Jessop *'' Drimia multisetosa'' (Baker) Jessop *'' Drimia mzimvubuensis'' van Jaarsv. *'' Drimia nagarjunae'' (Hemadri & Swahari) Anand Kumar *'' Drimia nana'' (Snijman) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia noctiflora'' (Batt. & Trab.) Stearn *'' Drimia numidica'' (Jord. & Fourr.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia occultans'' G.Will. *'' Drimia oliverorum'' J.C.Manning *'' Drimia ollivieri'' (Maire) Stearn *'' Drimia pancration'' (Steinh.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia polyantha'' (Blatt. & McCann) Stearn *'' Drimia polyphylla'' (Hook.f.) Ansari & Sundararagh. *'' Drimia porphyrantha'' (Bullock) Stedje *'' Drimia psilostachya'' (Welw. ex Baker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia pulchromarginata'' J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia pusilla'' Jacq. ex Willd. *'' Drimia razii'' Ansari *'' Drimia rupicola'' (Trimen) Dassan. in M.D.Daddanayake & al. (eds.) *'' Drimia salteri'' (Compton) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia sanguinea'' (Schinz) Jessop *'' Drimia saniensis'' (Hilliard & B.L.Burtt) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia sclerophylla'' J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia secunda'' (B.Nord.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia senegalensis'' (Kunth) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia sigmoidea'' J.C.Manning & J.M.J.Deacon *'' Drimia simensis'' (Hochst. ex A.Rich.) Stedje *'' Drimia sphaerocephala'' Baker in W.H.Harvey & auct. suc. (eds.) *'' Drimia stenocarpa'' J.C.Manning & J.M.J.Deacon *'' Drimia sudanica'' Friis & Vollesen *'' Drimia tazensis'' (Batt. & Maire) Stearn *'' Drimia undata'' Stearn *'' Drimia uniflora'' J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia uranthera'' (R.A.Dyer) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia urgineoides'' (Baker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia vermiformis'' J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia virens'' (Schltr.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia viridula'' (Baker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt *'' Drimia wightii'' Lakshmin. In addition, 10 species described in 2015, and placed by the authors in ''Rhodocodon'', are, , treated as "unplaced" in the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, which does not recognize the genus; none have names in ''Drimia'': *''Rhodocodon apiculatus'' H.Perrier ex Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig *''Rhodocodon calcicola'' Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig *''Rhodocodon campanulatus'' Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig *''Rhodocodon cyathiformis'' H.Perrier ex Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig *''Rhodocodon floribundus'' H.Perrier ex Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig *''Rhodocodon graciliscapus'' Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig *''Rhodocodon intermedius'' H.Perrier ex Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig *''Rhodocodon linearifolius'' Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig *''Rhodocodon monophyllus'' Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig *''Rhodocodon rotundus'' H.Perrier ex Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig

Distribution and habitat

The broadly defined genus has about 100 species found in Africa, including Madagascar, the Mediterranean area and Asia. About half of all the species occur in southern Africa, where species diversity is greatest in semi-arid regions with winter rainfall. ''Drimia'' generally is found in regions with seasonal dryness.

References

Bibliography

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1055119 Scilloideae Asparagaceae genera