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Dietes iridioides

Dietes iridioides

(L.)
Lirio Africano

Family: Iridaceae
Order: Asparagales
Class: Liliopsida
Phylum / Division: Magnoliophyta
Kingdom: Plantae

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Description


Dietes iridioides, commonly named African iris, fortnight lily, and morea iris, is a species of plant in the family Iridaceae that is native to Southern Africa.

 This species has sarmentous stems with branches bearing lily-like flowers wide, white with yellow central markings. Growing up to 60 cm in height and in spread, it forms dense basal tufts in the shape of an extended fan. Its preferred habitat is in semi-shade under tall, open trees. It has white flowers marked with yellow and violet, with six free tepals that are not joined into a tube at their bases. These flowers last only for a few days.

The seedpods of the plant often bend the stalks down to the ground where they have a better chance of propagating a new generation of plants.

Distribution: Dietes iridoides is widely distributed in Africa, from Ethiopia to South Africa.

Taxonomy: These plants were formerly placed in the genus Moraea, but were reclassified because they are rhizomatous. 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 both D. iridioides and D. grandiflora.

Source: Wikipedia, article Dietes iridioides. Content adapted from Wikipedia, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Accessed on 17/07/2026.





Geographic distribution


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Species photographs

Count: 1

Foto
Photography ID: 477210
  Adult

Mar del Plata
Buenos Aires
Argentina
12/25/2021
Jorge Iriberri


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Species records

Count: 1



Page 1 of 1
Record IDDateExact timeCountryProvince / departmentPlaceFilmedPhotographedRecorded vocalObservedHeardWounded or deadNumber of individualsUser or BibliographyDetail
152416525/12/2021ArgentinaBuenos AiresCiudad, Mar del PlataJorge Iriberri
Page 1 of 1

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Recommended citation
Please use the following reference when citing this species account.
EcoRegistros. 2026. Dietes iridioides – Species account. Accessed from www.ecoregistros.org on 15/09/2026.