Devia

Devia
Devia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Asparagales
Family: Iridaceae
Subfamily: Crocoideae
Tribe: Freesieae
Genus: Devia
Goldblatt & J.C. Manning
Species: D. xeromorpha
Type species
Devia xeromorpha
Goldblatt & J.C. Manning

Devia is a monotypic genus of perennial, herbaceous, and bulbous plants in the Iris family (Iridaceae), containing the single species Devia xeromorpha. It is a local endemic of the Roggeveld Escarpment in the western Karoo, South Africa, closely related to the southern and tropical African Crocosmia, a member of subtribe Tritoniinae of Ixioideae-Ixieae. It is remarkable in the Tritoniinae in its narrow, four-grooved leaves; dusty pink, actinomorphic flowers with helically rotated anthers; and tussock-forming habit. Basic chromosome number for Tritoniinae is x = 11 but Chasmanthe and some species of Tritonia have n = 10. Devia, with n = 10, is consistent with this pattern, but it differs from Crocosmia which has the basic number for the subtribe. Although some of the differences between Devia and Crocosmia reflect adaptations to dry environments in the former, the genus appears to have followed an independent evolutionary pathway, becoming specialized in the structure of the leaf and in orientation of the stamens and style.

The genus name Devia recognizes botanist Miriam Phoebe de Vos, for her scientific contributions to the morphology and anatomy of South African plants.[1]

References

  1. ^ Manning, John; Goldblatt, Peter (2008). The Iris Family: Natural History & Classification. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. pp. 147–49. ISBN 0-88192-897-6. 
  • Peter Goldblatt, John C. Manning. Devia xeromorpha, A New Genus and Species of Iridaceae-Ixioideae from the Cape Province, South Africa. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 77, No. 2 (1990), pp. 359-364.


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