''Tigridia pavonia'' is a species of flowering plant in the iris family Iridaceae.

Common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

s include jockey's cap lily, Mexican shellflower, peacock flower, tiger iris,Alan Davidson and tiger flower. This summer-flowering

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 ...

ous

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

perennial is widespread across much of Mexico,

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

, and

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

. It is naturalized in Ecuador and Peru. The leaves are narrow and lance-shaped. The three-petalled blooms occur in a variety of colours with strongly contrasting central markings. They open early in the morning and close before dusk. Blooms are successional throughout summer. Plants bloom in the first year after sowing. ''Tigridia pavonia'' is cultivated as an ornamental plant. It prefers a sheltered position in full sun, in sandy but fertile soil. As it is only

hardy Hardy may refer to: People * Hardy (surname) * Hardy (given name) * Hardy (singer), American singer-songwriter Places Antarctica * Mount Hardy, Enderby Land * Hardy Cove, Greenwich Island * Hardy Rocks, Biscoe Islands Australia * Hardy, Sout ...

to , in colder areas bulbs should be lifted and stored throughout the winter months. The roasted bulbs are edible and have been used by the American Indians and Indigenous peoples of Mexico. It has a

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

-like flavour. The aphid ''

Aphis newtoni ''Aphis'' is a genus of insects in the family Aphididae containing at least 600 species of aphids. It includes many notorious agricultural pests, such as the soybean aphid '' Aphis glycines''. Many species of ''Aphis'', such as '' A. coreopsidis ...

'' may be found on this plant.Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, Biology and Ecology June 2002 File:Tigrida-pavonia-flower.jpg File:Tigrida pavonia.jpg File:Tigridia pavonia.jpg

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3336594 Iridaceae Flora of Mexico Flora of Central America Garden plants Plants described in 1782 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus the Younger