''Ixia viridiflora'', also known as turquoise ixia, is a tall member of the genus ''

Ixia ''Ixia'' is a genus of cormous plants native to South Africa from the family Iridaceae. Some of them are known as the corn lily. Some distinctive traits include sword-like leaves and long wiry stems with star-shaped flowers. It usually prefers w ...

''. It comes from around the

Tulbagh Tulbagh, named after Dutch Cape Colony Governor Ryk Tulbagh, is a town located in the "Land van Waveren" mountain basin (also known as the Tulbagh basin), in the Winelands of the Western Cape, South Africa. The basin is fringed on three sides ...

in South Africa,

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

. It has small

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 under the ground. This corn lily is very rare. Its

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are often destroyed by human influence. As a consequence, its conservation status is vulnerable and is tending to worsen. The name turquoise ixia refers to the blue-green turquoise colour of the flowers, which is a rare colour for flowers. They are grouped in long inflorescences and are normally star-shaped as in most corn lilies. The flowers have a black-purple centre. The

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...

is 3-locular. The flower is pollinated by specific

scarab beetle The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change in recent years. Several sub ...

s known as

monkey beetle Monkey beetles are scarab beetles, a group of several genera within the tribe Hopliini. The placement of this tribe within the family Scarabaeidae is uncertain between Melolonthinae and Rutelinae. Many species visit flowers for pollen and nectar, ...

s of the tribe Hopliini. The turquoise ixia has good ornamental traits but it is rarely cultivated due to its conservation status.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q15296349 viridiflora Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces Garden plants of Southern Africa Plants described in 1789