Tigridia
Tigridia, is a genus of bulbous or cormous flowering plants belonging to the family Iridaceae. With common names including peacock flowers, tiger flowers, jaguar flowers, or shell flowers, they have large showy flowers; and one species, Tigridia pavonia, is often cultivated for this. The approximately 60 species in this family grow in the Americas, from Mexico down to Chile.
The tigridia flower is short lived, each often blooming for only one day, but often several flowers will bloom from the same stalk. Usually they are dormant during the winter dry-season. The roots are edible and were eaten by the Aztecs of Mexico who called it cacomitl, and its flower ocēlōxōchitl meaning "jaguar flower".
It was first published by French botanist Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in his book Genera plantarum on page 57 in 1789.
The genus name Tigridia means "tiger-like", and alludes to the coloration and spotting of the flowers of the type species Tigridia pavonia.
Species
There are 60 species accepted by Plants of the World Online;Tigridia albicans Ravenna - Tacna Province in PeruTigridia alpestris Molseed - Mexico Tigridia amatlanensis Aarón Rodr. & García-Mend - OaxacaTigridia arequipensis Tigridia augusta Drapiez - central + southern MexicoTigridia azufresensis Tigridia bicolor Molseed - OaxacaTigridia catarinensis Cruden - San Luis PotosíTigridia chiapensis Molseed ex Cruden - ChiapasTigridia chrysantha Cruden & S.J.Walker ex McVaugh - JaliscoTigridia citrina Tigridia coerulea Tigridia convoluta Goldblatt - OaxacaTigridia conzattii Goldblatt - OaxacaTigridia dugesii S.Watson - JaliscoTigridia durangensis Molseed ex Cruden - DurangoTigridia ehrenbergii Molseed - MexicoTigridia estelae López-Ferr. & Espejo - DurangoTigridia flammea Ravenna - MichoacánTigridia fosteri Tigridia galanthoides Molseed - southern MexicoTigridia gracielae Aarón Rodr. & Ortiz-Cat. - México StateTigridia hallbergii Molseed - central + southern Mexico, GuatemalaTigridia heliantha Tigridia hintonii Molseed - GuerreroTigridia huajuapanensis Molseed ex Cruden - OaxacaTigridia huyanae Ravenna - Lima Province in PeruTigridia immaculata Ravenna - Oaxaca, Chiapas, GuatemalaTigridia inusitata Ravenna - GuerreroTigridia latifolia Tigridia longispatha Tigridia lutea - Lima and Ancash provinces of PeruTigridia mariaetrinitatis Espejo & López-Ferr. - OaxacaTigridia martinezii Calderón - HidalgoTigridia matudae Molseed - México StateTigridia meleagris G.Nicholson - central + southern Mexico, GuatemalaTigridia mexicana Molseed - central + southern MexicoTigridia minuta Ravenna - Apurímac + Ayacucho Provinces in PeruTigridia molseediana Ravenna - Oaxaca, GuatemalaTigridia mortonii Molseed - México StateTigridia multiflora Ravenna - central + southern MexicoTigridia nanchititlensis Tigridia oaxacana Goldblatt - OaxacaTigridia orthantha Ravenna - Oaxaca, Chiapas, GuatemalaTigridia pavonia Redouté - Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, HondurasTigridia pearcei Ravenna - Huánuco region in PeruTigridia philippiana I.M.Johnst. - Tarapacá + Antofagasta Provinces in ChileTigridia potosina López-Ferr. & Espejo - San Luis PotosíTigridia pugana Aarón Rodr. & Ortiz-Cat. - JaliscoTigridia pulchella B.L.Rob. - Jalisco, MichoacánTigridia purpusii Molseed - Puebla and northern OaxacaTigridia purruchucana Ravenna - Lima Province in PeruTigridia raimondii Ravenna - Arequipa Province in PeruTigridia rzedowskiana Aarón Rodr. & Ortiz-Cat. - QuerétaroTigridia seleriana Ravenna - Oaxaca, Chiapas, GuatemalaTigridia suarezii Aarón Rodr. & Ortiz-Cat. - JaliscoTigridia tepoxtlana Ravenna - MorelosTigridia tuitensis Tigridia vanhouttei Espejo & López-Ferr - central + northeastern MexicoTigridia venusta Cruden - MichoacánHybrids
Several hybrids exist, including;Tigridia × mathewii, first published in Phytoneuron 2015-53: 4 in 2015.
It is an artificial hybrid, a cross of T. orthantha × T. pavonia.
Distribution
They are native to the countries of; northern Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Peru.They have been introduced into: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Madeira.