Freesia

Freesia
Cultivated freesias
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Iridaceae
Subfamily: Crocoideae
Tribe: Freesieae
Genus: Freesia
Eckl. ex Klatt
Type species
Freesia refracta
(Jacquin) Klatt
Synonyms
  • Anomatheca Ker Gawl.
  • Nymanina Kuntze

Freesia is a genus of herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, first described as a genus in 1866 by Christian Friedrich Ecklon (1886) and named after the German botanist and medical practitioner, Friedrich Freese (1795–1876). It is native to the eastern side of southern Africa, from Kenya south to South Africa, most species being found in Cape Provinces. Species of the former genus Anomatheca are now included in Freesia. The plants commonly known as "freesias", with fragrant funnel-shaped flowers, are cultivated hybrids of a number of Freesia species. Some other species are also grown as ornamental plants.

Description

They are herbaceous plants which grow from a conical corm 1–2.5 cm (1⁄2–1 in) diameter, which sends up a tuft of narrow leaves 10–30 cm (4–12 in) long, and a sparsely branched stem 10–40 cm (4–16 in) tall bearing a few leaves and a loose one-sided spike of flowers with six petals. Many species have fragrant narrowly funnel-shaped flowers, although those formerly placed in the genus Anomatheca, such as F. laxa, have flat flowers.

Freesias are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the large yellow underwing.[citation needed]

Systematics

The genus was named in honor of Friedrich Heinrich Theodor Freese (1795–1876), a German physician.

Species

Species of the former genus Anomatheca are now included in Freesia:

Cultivation and uses

The plants usually called "freesias" in horticulture and floristry are derived from crosses made in the 19th century between Freesia refracta and Freesia leichtlinii. Numerous cultivars have been bred from these species and the pink- and yellow-flowered forms of Freesia corymbosa. Modern tetraploid cultivars have flowers ranging from white to yellow, pink, red and blue-mauve. They are mostly cultivated professionally in the Netherlands by about 80 growers. Freesias can be readily increased from seed.

The flowers themselves are mainly used in wedding bouquets. The flower's fragrance cannot be extracted with a solvent; in the early 1980s International Flavors & Fragrances used their "Living Flowers" headspace technology to analyze live freesia blooms and the analysis was used for the first time in a fragrance: Antonia's Flowers (1984).

Freesia laxa (formerly called Lapeirousia laxa or Anomatheca cruenta) is one of the other species of the genus which is commonly cultivated. Smaller than the scented freesia cultivars, it has flat rather than cup-shaped flowers.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Search for "Freesia", World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2012-08-13
  2. ↑ Manning, John; Goldblatt, Peter (2008). The Iris Family: Natural History & Classification. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. pp. 149–52. ISBN 978-0-88192-897-6.
  3. ↑ Dutch flowerpaper, Bloemenkrant, publisher Verhagen, week 12-2015, see also http://issuu.com/twovisions/docs/bk_week_12_15?e=1360358/11894263
  4. ↑ Burr, Chandler (February 25, 2007). "Ghost Flowers". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 26, 2022.
  5. ↑ Edwards, Michael (2024). American Legends: The evolution of American fragrances. Nice, France: Exigence Puissance 3. ISBN 978-0-6454839-0-1.
  6. ↑ Mathew, Brian (1987), The Smaller Bulbs, London: B.T. Batsford, ISBN 978-0-7134-4922-8, p. 9
  7. ↑ Innes, Clive (1985), The World of Iridaceae, Ashington, UK: Holly Gate International, ISBN 978-0-948236-01-3, p. 18

Bibliography