Ixia is a genus of cormous geophytes in the family Iridaceae, order Asparagales, endemic to the Cape Provinces of western South Africa. With roughly 90–110 recognised species, it is one of the larger genera in the iris family. Plants grow from corms and produce characteristically narrow, sword-shaped or linear leaves that emerge from the base. The flowering stems are slender and wiry, often reaching 20–60 cm, and bear a loose spike of star-shaped, six-tepalled flowers in white, yellow, pink, orange, red, or bicoloured combinations, frequently with a dark central eye. The flowers have a subtle but distinctive fragrance and attract a variety of pollinators, particularly bees.
The genus thrives in seasonally dry, well-drained soils of the Fynbos and Succulent Karoo biomes and is strongly tied to the Cape Floristic Region, one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. Many species are winter-rainfall geophytes that bloom in spring and go dormant through the dry summer. Several species, including forms of Ixia viridiflora (notable for its unusual turquoise-green flowers) and Ixia maculata, have long been cultivated in European and Southern Hemisphere gardens as ornamental bulbs, sold commercially under the common name corn lily. The genus was described as endemic to the Cape Provinces and the name has been in horticultural use since at least the eighteenth century.
Etymology
The genus name Ixia derives from the Ancient Greek ἰξία (ixia), a name applied in antiquity to Carlina gummifera (the pine thistle), an unrelated member of the daisy family Asteraceae. The connection may relate to the sticky or gum-producing nature of that plant, but the name was transferred to this South African genus in the botanical literature of the eighteenth century.
Distribution
Ixia is endemic to the Cape Provinces of western South Africa, with its diversity centred in the Cape Floristic Region. Species occupy a range of habitats within this region, including Fynbos scrubland and Succulent Karoo, generally favouring sandy, well-drained soils under a winter-rainfall climate.
Cultivation
Ixia species are widely grown as ornamental bulbs in temperate gardens, valued for their tall, wiry stems bearing spikes of brightly coloured, star-shaped flowers in spring. Corms are planted in autumn in free-draining soil in a sunny position; in climates with wet winters or hard frosts, corms are often lifted and stored dry over summer or grown in pots. They are commercially available under the common name corn lily and are popular for cut-flower production.
