Dietes
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2008-05-09T23:33:56Z
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{{Taxobox
| name = ''Dietes''
| image = Spanish-iris-crop-only.jpg
| image_width = 200px
| image_caption = ''[[Dietes grandiflora]]''
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Liliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Asparagales]]
| familia = [[Iridaceae]]
| genus = '''''Dietes'''''
| genus_authority = [[Richard Anthony Salisbury|Salisb.]] ex [[Friedrich Wilhelm Klatt|Klatt]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
See text.
}}
'''''Dietes''''' is a [[genus]] of [[rhizome|rhizomatous]] [[plant]]s of the family [[Iridaceae]]. Common names include '''Fortnight lily''', '''African iris''', '''Morea''' or '''Moraea iris''', '''Japanese iris''' and '''Butterfly iris''', each of which may be used differently in different regions for one or more of the four [[species]] within the genus.
Most species are native to southern [[Africa]], with one {''D. robinsoniana'') native to [[Lord Howe Island]] off the coast of [[Australia]].
Species include:
* ''[[Dietes bicolor]]'' (Yellow Wild Iris, Peacock Flower, Butterfly Iris)
* ''[[Dietes grandiflora]]'' (Wild Iris, Large Wild Iris, Fairy Iris)
* ''[[Dietes iridioides]]'' (Wild Iris, African Iris, Cape Iris, Fortnight Lily, Morea Iris)
* ''[[Dietes robinsoniana]]'' (Wedding Lily)
''D. bicolor'' has cream or yellow flowers.
''D. grandiflora'' and ''D. iridoides'' both have white flowers marked with yellow and violet, and appear similar in photographs, but they are quite different: those of ''grandiflora'' are much larger, last three days, and have dark spots at the base of the outer tepals, while those of ''iridoides'' are small, last only one day, and lack the spots. ''D. grandiflora'' is also a larger plant overall.
==Taxonomic history==
These plants were formerly placed in the genus ''[[Moraea]]'', but were reclassified because they are [[rhizome|rhizomatous]]. Like ''Moraea'', they differ from ''[[Iris (plant)|Iris]]'' in having flowers with six free [[tepal]]s that are not joined into a tube at their bases.
Some references mention the species ''Dietes vegeta'' or ''D. vegeta variegata'', springing from some confusion with ''[[Moraea vegata]]'' (which grows from a [[corm]], not a rhizome). The name ''D. vegeta'' is commonly misapplied to ''D. grandiflora'' or ''D. iridiodes.''
<gallery>
Image:Olhodetigre.jpg|''D. bicolor''
Image:Fortnight lily.jpg|''D. grandiflora''
Image:Dietes iridioides SMC 2007.JPG|''D. iridiodes''
</gallery>
==References==
* [http://www.floridata.com/ref/D/diet_iri.cfm Floridata: Dietes]
* Goldblatt, P. (1981) Systematics, physiology and evolution of ''Dietes'' (Iridaceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 68: 132-153.
<br clear="all" />
[[Category:Iridaceae]]
[[es:Dietes]]
[[pt:Dietes]]
[[sv:Zuluirissläktet]]