A briar Montbrecia (escaped from its original garden location)

''Crocosmia'' (;), also known as montbretia, is a small

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 ...

of flowering plants in the iris

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 ...

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 is

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to the

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

s of southern and eastern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, ranging from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

to Sudan. One species is endemic to

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>

Description

They can be

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

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, ...

perennials A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widel ...

that grow from basal underground

corms 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 ...

. The alternate leaves are

cauline A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

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

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 ...

s of 4 to 20 vivid red and orange subopposite flowers on a

divaricate Divaricate means branching, or having separation or a degree of separation. The angle between branches is wide. In botany In botany, the term is often used to describe the branching pattern of plants. Plants are said to be divaricating when the ...

ly (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 Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...

. The fertile flowers are

hermaphroditic In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have s ...

. All stamens have an equal length. The

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

branches are apically forked. They are

pollinated Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds, a ...

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 Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent in ...

(a spice derived from ''

Crocus ''Crocus'' (; plural: crocuses or croci) is a genus of seasonal flowering plants in the family Iridaceae (iris family) comprising about 100 species of perennials growing from corms. They are low growing plants, whose flower stems remain under ...

'' – another genus belonging to the Iridaceae) – when immersed in hot water.

Species

Species accepted by World Checklist of Selected Plant Families * '' Crocosmia ambongensis'' ( H.Perrier) Goldblatt & – Madagascar * '' Crocosmia aurea'' ( Pappe ex

Hook. Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botanic garden. At Kew h ...

) Planch. (Falling Stars) – eastern + southern Africa from Cape Province to Sudan; naturalised in Azores * ''

Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora ''Crocosmia'' × ''crocosmiiflora'', montbretia, is a garden hybrid of '' C. aurea'' and '' C. pottsii'', first bred in 1880 in France by Victor Lemoine.Parnell, J. and Curtis, T. 2012. ''Webb's An Irish Flora.'' Cork University Press. ...

'' (

Lemoine Lemoine or Le Moine is a French surname meaning "Monk". Notable people with the surname include: * Adolphe Lemoine, known as Lemoine-Montigny (1812–1880), French comic-actor * Anna Le Moine (born 1973), Swedish curler * Antoine Marcel Lemoine ( ...

)

N.E.Br. Nicholas Edward Brown (11 July 1849 in Redhill, Surrey – 25 November 1934 in Kew Gardens, London) was an English plant taxonomist and authority on succulents. He was also an authority on several families of plants, including Asclepiadacea ...

- 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. John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley ...

) M.P.de Vos – Kamiesberg Mountains in Cape Province of South Africa * '' Crocosmia masoniorum'' (

L.Bolus Harriet Margaret Louisa Bolus ''née'' Kensit (31 July 1877, Burgersdorp – 5 April 1970, Cape Town) was a South African botanist and taxonomist, and the longtime curator of the Bolus Herbarium, from 1903. Bolus also has the legacy of authorin ...

) 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 ''Crocosmia paniculata'' is a bulbous flowering plant that is native to eastern South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini, growing in wet areas by streams, marshes, and drainages. Plants reach 4 to 5 ft (1.2–1.5 m) tall, with lanceolate leaves ...

'' ( Klatt) Goldblatt ( Aunt Eliza) – Lesotho, Eswatini, 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'' * ''Crocosmia'' × ''crocosmiiflora''

Cultivation

Crocosmias are grown worldwide, and more than 400

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

s have been produced. Some hybrids have become invasive, especially ''C. ''×'' crocosmiiflora'' hybrids, which are invasive in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

, and the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

. Crocosmia are winter-hardy in

temperate regions In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

. They can be propagated through

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

, removing offsets from the

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 ' ...

in spring. The following cultivars have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

's Award of Garden Merit: *''Crocosmia'' 'Hellfire' * ''Crocosmia'' 'Lucifer' * ''Crocosmia masoniorum'' *''Crocosmia'' 'Paul's Best Yellow' * ''Crocosmia'' 'Severn Sunrise' *''Crocosmia'' × ''crocosmiiflora'' 'Babylon' * ''Crocosmia'' × ''crocosmiiflora'' 'Star of the East' Other cultivars include: * ''Crocosmia curtonus'' 'Lucifer', scarlet

Gallery

Image:Crocosmia corm 8649.jpg, ''Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora'' corms in winter File:Crocosmia lucifer.jpg, Close-up of ''Crocosmia'' 'Lucifer' in bloom File:Aa montbretia.jpg, Montbretia, south Manchester, England

References

External links

* De Vos, M. P. (1999) "''Crocosmia''". ''Flora of Southern Africa'' 7: 129-138. *

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 ...

, John Manning, Gary Dunlop, Auriol Batten - ''Crocosmia and Chasmanthe'' (Royal Horticultural Society Plant Collector Guide) * Kostelijk, P.J. (1984) "''Crocosmia'' in gardens". ''The Plantsman'' 5: 246-253. {{Taxonbar, from=Q158670 Iridaceae genera Iridaceae Garden plants Flora of Africa