Babiana Ker Gawler is a genus of flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

s in the Family Iridaceae

Iridaceae

The Iris family or Iridaceae is a family of perennial, herbaceous and bulbous plants included in the monocot order Asparagales, taking its name from the genus Iris. Almost worldwide in distribution and one of the most important families in horticulture, it includes more than 2000 species...

 composed of about 80 species. Most of these species (about 49) are found in the southwestern Cape of Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, with the remainder distributed in Namaqualand

Namaqualand

Namaqualand is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over and covering a total area of 170,000 square miles/440,000 km². It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into two portions - Little Namaqualand to the south and Great Namaqualand to the...

 and Northern Cape Province. The native range of the genus is from southern Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

 to the Eastern Cape to southern Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...

, with one species from Socotra

Socotra

Socotra , also spelt Soqotra, is a small archipelago of four islands in the Indian Ocean. The largest island, also called Socotra, is about 95% of the landmass of the archipelago. It lies some east of the Horn of Africa and south of the Arabian Peninsula. The island is very isolated and through...

 off the coast of Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

 (although this may not be a species of Babiana). The genus name is derived from the Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

 word babianer, referring to the African ape that consumes the corms of plants in the genus.

Selected species

• Babiana ambigua
  Babiana ambigua
  Babiana ambigua is a species of plant in the Iridaceae family. It is endemic to South Africa....
  
  - Common Baboon-root
• Babiana angustifolia
• Babiana curviscapa
• Babiana disticha
• Babiana flabellifolia
• Babiana fourcadei
• Babiana framesii
• Babiana longicollis
  Babiana longicollis
  Babiana longicollis is a species of plant in the Iridaceae family. It is endemic to Namibia.-References:* Craven, P. 2004. . Downloaded on 20 August 2007....
  
  
• Babiana montana
• Babiana nana
  Babiana nana
  Babiana nana is a species of plant in the Iridaceae family. It is native to Australia and South Africa....
  
  - Sandflat Baboon-root
• Babiana patersoniae
• Babiana patula
• Babiana plicata
• Babiana purpurea
• Babiana pygmaea - Yellow Baboon-root
• Babiana ringens - Rat's-tail
• Babiana rubrocyanea
• Babiana stricta
  Babiana stricta
  Babiana stricta or baboon flower comes from Cape Province, South Africa, and is among the best-known species of Babiana, and the one used most often as an ornamental plant. It is included in the Iridaceae family, Crocoideae subfamily. There are many hybrids and forms with different colored...
  
  - common Babiana, Baboon flower
• Babiana socotrana
  Babiana socotrana
  Cyanixia socotrana is a perennial, herbaceous and bulbous plant species in the Iridaceae family endemic to Socotra. The genus name is derived from the Greek words Ixia, referring to the radially symmetrical flowers in the genus of that name, as well as cyanos, meaning "blue".It was known until...
  
  
• Babiana truncata
• Babiana tubulosa - White Baboon-root
• Babiana vanzylieae
• Babiana villosa