Description :

• Deciduous perennials
• Rootstock a globose to obconic corm rooting from below, basal in origin, tunics of fine to coarse fibres
• Stem aerial, sometimes very short and virtually subterranean, terete, simple or branched, sometimes with a fibrous neck around base
• Leaves several, lower 2 or 3 cataphylls; foliage leaves unifacial, with a definite midrib, several, mostly basal and often forming a distichous fan, blades plane and linear to sword-shaped or terete or oval in transverse section, occasionally margins undulate to crisped, inrolled, or winged, thus H-shaped in transverse section, cauline leaves few and reduced
• Inflorescence a spike, rarely with 1 flower per branch, flowers mostly secund, or rarely spirally arranged; bracts small to medium, green and firm, or membranous to scarious, outer usually 3-cusped, inner ± as long or slightly smaller than outer and 2-toothed or notched apically
• Flowers zygomorphic and funnel-shaped to hypocrateriform or rarely actinomorphic and rotate, shades of orange to yellow, rarely red or pink, often venation darker than base colour, lower tepals sometimes with contrasting markings, occasionally sweetly scented, with nectar from septal nectaries; perianth tube funnel-shaped or cylindric, short or elongate
• Tepals equal or subequal or unequal and dissimilar, then dorsal largest, lower tepals often with a tooth-like callus in lower midline
• Stamens unilateral and arcuate or symmetrically disposed and erect or loosely spreading; filaments arising at base of throat; anthers usually exserted, sometimes included; pollen monosulcate, operculate, exine perforate
• Style exserted or included, arcuate or central, branches slightly flattened and expanded apically and recurved
• Capsules globose to ellipsoid, cartilaginous
• Seeds globose, flattened at chalazal end, smooth or scalariform, surface laevigate, raphal vascular trace excluded
• x = 11 (10) (polyploidy)

Classification Notes:

• Although Tritonia is sometimes difficult to distinguish from Ixia , it seems likely that the two genera are not closely related
• They differ notably in details of leaf anatomy, Tritonia lacking submarginal sclerenchyma and usually having columnar marginal epidermis
• The leaf characters as well as a basic chromosome number of x = 11 and an orange-coloured perianth as a basal character suggest that its closest relatives are Crocosmia (x = 11) and Chasmanthe (x = 10)

Nomenclature:

• Tritonia Ker Gawl.
  • Ker Gawler: t. 581 (1802)
  • De Vos: 124 (1982)
  • De Vos: 347 (1983)
  • De Vos: 89 (1999)
• Montbretia DC.
  • Candolle: 151 (1811)
• Bellendenia (as Belendenia ) Raf.
  • Rafinesque: 245 (1832)
• Tritonixia Klatt
  • Klatt: 355 (1882)
• Montbretiopsis L.Bolus
  • Bolus: 215 (1929)
  • Goldblatt: 281 (1974)

Distribution & Notes:

• Global : Species 28, mostly in the winter-rainfall region but extending from the Western Cape and Namaqualand in South Africa to Tanzania
• Southern Africa : Occurring in a variety of habitats: grassland in areas of summer rainfall; in renosterveld, karroid scrub or fynbos in areas of winter rainfall

Additional Notes:

• Flowers are mostly pollinated by long-tongued bees but the long-tubed pale-flowered species are pollinated by long-proboscid flies including Philoliche (Tabanidae) and Moegistorhynchus (Nemestrinidae)
• Species with a rotate, regular perianth are pollinated by monkey beetles (Scarabaeidae)