Ixioideae

Taxobox
name = Member of the subfamily

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image_width = 250px
image_caption = "Chasmanthe floribunda"
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Liliopsida
ordo = Asparagales
familia = Iridaceae
subfamilia = "Ixioideae"
subdivision_ranks = tribes
subdivision =
* "Pillansieae"
* "Watsonieae "
* "Ixieae"

Ixioideae is one of the major subfamilies in the Iridaceae family. It's closely related to the "Crocus" subfamily - Crocoideae.

It contains plants which are wildly distributed in the Old world - mainly in Africa but there are species like some members of the genera "Romulea" and "Gladiolus" which are native to Europe and Asia. Some examples are "Romulea bulbocodium", "Romulea columnae", "Gladiolus italicus" and others.

Like the whole Iridaceae family, the members of the subfamily has the typical sword-shaped leaves. The rootstock is usually corm. The blooms which sometimes has scent are collected in inflorescence. They contains six tepals. The nectar is produced mostly in the base of the bloom from glands of the ovary. This is the place where the flower forms tube-like end. Well, in some species there is no such end and the plant provides pollen to its pollinator.

The ovary is 3-locular. It contains many seeds with different vision in the different members. Sometimes the seed has fine, delicate coat like in "Gladiolus" and in other cases It's black and with hard coat like in "Babiana". It's often pellet-like, sometimes circular or semi-circular.

Many species of this group are among the best-known ornamental plants in the gardens or in pots. Some good examples are "Freesia", "Ixia", "Crocosmia", "Gladiolus" and others popular flowers.

The subfamily is sometimes united with Crocoideae because of the closeness of the species in the two groups.