Haemodoraceae
Encyclopedia
Haemodoraceae is a family of flowering plants. It is sometimes known as the "Bloodwort family". Primarily a Southern Hemisphere family, they are found in South Africa
, Australia
and New Guinea
, and in the Americas
(from SE U.S.A. to tropical South America).
Perhaps the best known are the widely cultivated and unusual Kangaroo Paws from Australia, of the two closely related genera Anigozanthos
and Macropidia
.
The APG II system
, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system
, of 1998), also recognizes this family and places it in the order Commelinales
, in the clade commelinids
, in the monocots. The family then includes about a dozen genera, totalling several dozen species, of perennial herbaceous plants.
The leathery leaves
are rather large and entire or ensiform, with entire margins. The leaves are enclosed by a sheath with free margins and alternate, distichous (= in two vertical ranks).
The plants are hermaphroditic. Pollinators are primarily insects, but also birds or sometimes a small mammal. The wooly-haired flower
s grow at the end of a leafles stalk, in cymes (with lateral branches), panicles or racemes.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, and in the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
(from SE U.S.A. to tropical South America).
Perhaps the best known are the widely cultivated and unusual Kangaroo Paws from Australia, of the two closely related genera Anigozanthos
Anigozanthos
Anigozanthos is a small genus of Australian plants in the Bloodwort family Haemodoraceae. The 11 species and several subspecies are commonly known as kangaroo paw and catspaw depending on the shape of their flowers...
and Macropidia
Macropidia
Macropidia fuliginosa, the sole species of genus Macropidia, is a perennial rhizomatous flowering plant. Commonly known as the Black Kangaroo Paw, it is endemic to Southwest Australia, specifically from Perth to Geraldton in the north of the region.-Description and reproduction:A small perennial...
.
The APG II system
APG II system
The APG II system of plant classification is the second, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy that was published in April 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. It was a revision of the first APG system, published in 1998, and was superseded in 2009...
, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system
APG system
The APG system of plant classification is the first, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy that was published in 1998 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. It was superseded in 2003 by a revision, the APG II system, and then in 2009 by a further...
, of 1998), also recognizes this family and places it in the order Commelinales
Commelinales
Commelinales is the botanical name of an order of flowering plants. It comprises five families: Commelinaceae, Haemodoraceae, Hanguanaceae, Philydraceae, and Pontederiaceae. All the families combined contain over 800 species in about 70 genera; the majority of species are in the Commelinaceae...
, in the clade commelinids
Commelinids
In plant taxonomy, commelinids is a name used by the APG III system for a clade within the monocots, which in its turn is a clade within the angiosperms. The commelinids are the only clade that the APG has informally named within the monocots...
, in the monocots. The family then includes about a dozen genera, totalling several dozen species, of perennial herbaceous plants.
The leathery leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are rather large and entire or ensiform, with entire margins. The leaves are enclosed by a sheath with free margins and alternate, distichous (= in two vertical ranks).
The plants are hermaphroditic. Pollinators are primarily insects, but also birds or sometimes a small mammal. The wooly-haired flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s grow at the end of a leafles stalk, in cymes (with lateral branches), panicles or racemes.
Potentially confused plants
The term bloodwort can also apply to Sanguinaria canadensis (more often called bloodroot) or Achillea millefolium (more often called yarrow or common yarrow).Genera
- AnigozanthosAnigozanthosAnigozanthos is a small genus of Australian plants in the Bloodwort family Haemodoraceae. The 11 species and several subspecies are commonly known as kangaroo paw and catspaw depending on the shape of their flowers...
- Kangaroo Paws - Barberetta
- BlancoaBlancoaBlancoa is a genus with a single species of perennial herb in the family Haemodoraceae, endemic to the south west of Western Australia.The sole species in the genus is Blancoa canescens, Winter Bell. It has nodding red to pink flowers, clumping habit and grows to around 40 cm in height....
- ConostylisConostylisConostylis is a genus of perennial herbs in the family Haemodoraceae, endemic to the south west of Western Australia.Species include:*Conostylis aculeata R.Br. Prickly Conostylis*Conostylis albescens Hopper...
- Dilatris
- Haemodorum - Bloodroots
- LachnanthesLachnanthesLachnanthes is a genus of monocotyledonous plants in the bloodwort family containing only one species, namely Lachnanthes caroliniana, commonly known as redroot. The plant is native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia and Massachusetts in the north, south to Florida and Cuba, and west along...
- MacropidiaMacropidiaMacropidia fuliginosa, the sole species of genus Macropidia, is a perennial rhizomatous flowering plant. Commonly known as the Black Kangaroo Paw, it is endemic to Southwest Australia, specifically from Perth to Geraldton in the north of the region.-Description and reproduction:A small perennial...
- Black Kangaroo Paw - Phlebocarya
- Pyrrhorhiza
- Schiekia
- TribonanthesTribonanthesTribonanthes a genus of Australian plants in the Bloodwort family, Haemodoraceae.It includes the species:*Tribonanthes australis Endl.*Tribonanthes brachypetala Lindl.*Tribonanthes longipetala Lindl....
- Xiphidium
- WachendorfiaWachendorfiaWachendorfia, known as Red Root, is a genus of 25 species of cormous perennials endemic to South Africa, only a few of which are cultivated outside their own country.-Description:...