Iridaceae FAMILY

Crocosmia aurea

Edibility

1/5

Medicinal

1/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Botanical Description

Crocosmia aurea is an attractive perennial plant growing up to a metre tall from a bulbous rootstock. It produces a number of bright orange flowers in a full spike at the end of the flower stalk[ 295 Title PlantZAfrica.com Publication Author Website http://www.plantzafrica.com Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent site giving detailed descriptions and uses of many S. African plants. ]. The plant is sometimes gathered from the wild for local use as a food colorant or medicine, and is commonly grown as an ornamental in gardens.

Habitat & Origin

Origintemperate; tropical

Native RangeS. Africa - East Cape province and north to Mozambique, Malawi etc

HabitatShady forest areas in moist country, at elevations from 2,000 - 2,500 metres[ 79 Title The World of Iridaceae Publication Author Innes. C. Publisher Year ISBN Description Deals with many of the plants in the Iris family giving brief details of habitat and notes on cultivation. Well illustrated. ]. Especially common in conifer plantations[ 90 Title Bulbs Publication Author Phillips. R. and Rix. M. Publisher Pan Books Year 1989 ISBN 0-330-30253-1 Description Superbly illustrated, it gives brief details on cultivation and native habitat. ]. Mostly in forest margins and clearings in areas of high rainfall[ 308 Title Flora Zambesiaca Publication Author Website http://apps.kew.org/efloras/fz/intro.html Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent online flora of plants from the Zambezi River basin. It lists a number of the plant uses as well as the habitats and botanical descriptions of the plants. ].