Iridoideae is one of the two main subfamilies in the popular family

Iridaceae Iridaceae is a family of plants in order Asparagales, taking its name from the irises, meaning rainbow, referring to its many colours. There are 66 accepted genera with a total of c. 2244 species worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016). It include ...

. It contains the best-known genus - '' Iris''. The members of this subfamily are widely distributed worldwide. They grow in all continents except Antarctica. Iris milesii I IMG 6615

They produce typical sword-shaped leaves and have mainly

corm A corm, bulbo-tuber, or bulbotuber is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ that some plants use to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (perennation). The word ' ...

s or

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

s. There are some exceptions which have

bulb In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

s. These are two subgenera of ''Iris'' - '' Xiphium'' and '' Hermodactyloides''. The blooms, which are often scented, are arranged in often terminal inflorescences. Each flower has six petals. In most cases three of them are separated from the others and are specialized in different functions. However some are not, as in ''

Nemastylis ''Nemastylis'', or pleatleaf, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, first described as a genus in 1835. It is native to Mexico, Central America, and the southern part of the United States. The genus name is derived from the Gree ...

''. Nectar is produced in their base. In some of the species the

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s are partially fused with the petals. The 3-locular seed capsule contains the

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

s which are often circular, flat in some cases drop-like grains coloured black or sometimes orange ('' Iris pseudacorus''). The species in the subfamily are often used as ornamental plants such as '' Iris'' and ''

Tigridia ''Tigridia'' , is a genus of bulbous or cormous flowering plants belonging to the family Iridaceae. With common names including peacock flowers, tiger-flowers or shell flowers, they have large showy flowers; and one species, ''Tigridia pavonia'' ...

''. There are also species members which are at risk in their natural environment such as some subspecies of '' Ferraria crispa'' and '' Moraea villosa''.

References

Iridaceae Asparagales subfamilies {{Iridaceae-stub