Blandfordia, commonly known as Christmas bells, is a genus of four species of flowering plants in the family Blandfordiaceae, order Asparagales. All species are native to eastern Australia, where they grow in coastal heathlands and waterlogged sites from Queensland to Tasmania.
Plants are tufted, perennial herbaceous monocots that grow from a corm with fleshy, fibrous or tuber-like roots. The leaves are narrow and linear, usually crowded in two ranks at the base of the erect flowering stem. Up to twenty large, drooping flowers are arranged near the top of the stem among small leaf-like bracts. The flowers are typically red with yellow lobes; the sepals and petals are fused into a cylindrical or bell-shaped tube with six lobes roughly one-fifth the length of the tube. Six stamens are fused to the inner wall of the tube. Flowering occurs in spring or summer and is followed by a tapered capsule containing numerous hairy brown seeds.
The genus contains four accepted species: Blandfordia nobilis (the type species, New South Wales), Blandfordia cunninghamii (New South Wales), Blandfordia grandiflora (Queensland and New South Wales), and Blandfordia punicea (Tasmania). Blandfordia is the sole member of the family Blandfordiaceae, a placement formally recognised under the APG IV classification system.
Etymology
The genus name Blandfordia was given by James Edward Smith in 1804, honouring George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough, who held the courtesy title Marquis of Blandford. Smith based his description on dried specimens sent from Sydney by John White, the colonial surgeon.
Distribution
All four species are endemic to eastern Australia. Two species (B. nobilis and B. cunninghamii) are restricted to New South Wales, B. grandiflora extends north into Queensland, and B. punicea is confined to Tasmania. Christmas bells typically grow in heathlands, favouring waterlogged soils in coastal and near-coastal areas, though some populations occur on inland tablelands.
Taxonomy Notes
Blandfordia is the sole genus in the monotypic family Blandfordiaceae, placed in the order Asparagales within the monocots. The family was only recently recognised by taxonomists and is formally accepted under the APG IV system (2016, unchanged from the 1998, 2003, and 2009 versions). Previously, the genus was assigned to various other families.
