Description:

• Deciduous perennials
• Rootstock a globose corm rooting from below, basal in origin, tunics of tough coriaceous layers, or sometimes fibrous
• Stem aerial or subterranean, usually terete or sometimes angled, often branched, usually hairy or scabrid, usually sheathed below by a neck
• Leaves several, lower 2 or 3 cataphylls; foliage leaves unifacial, without a definite midrib, often abruptly expanded and oblique, blades plicate, ovate to linear, sometimes abruptly truncate, undulate, sinuate, or sometimes terete, usually pubescent or puberulent
• Inflorescence a spike, flowers often secund, or spiral or distichous; bracts short or long, green with dry brown apices, rarely entirely dry, pubescent or glabrous, inner usually shorter than outer, usually forked apically or sometimes divided to base
• Flowers usually zygomorphic and bilabiate or hypocrateriform, sometimes actinomorphic and funnel-shaped, often shades of blue or purple, sometimes yellow, red, pink or white, often with darker or pale markings on lower tepals, often sweetly fragrant, usually with nectar from septal nectaries; perianth tube short to long, cylindric and straight to curved or funnel-shaped
• Tepals equal, subequal or unequal and dissimilar, then dorsal ones enlarged, hooded, reflexed or erect with margins involute and enclosing filaments, lower tepals sometimes ± clawed
• Stamens symmetrically disposed and erect or unilateral and arcuate; filaments arising in mouth of tube; anthers exserted, occasionally connective very broad; pollen monosulcate, operculate, exine perforate
• Ovary sometimes hairy
• Style exserted or included, branches usually somewhat broadened above or slender throughout
• Capsules globose to oblong, cartilaginous, sometimes hairy
• Seeds globose with a prominently inflated funicle, rugose, usually shiny, surface laevigate
• x = 7

Classification Notes:

• Babiana is taxonomically isolated in Ixieae
• It is distinguished by several specialised features including pseudopetiolate leaves, plicate leaf blades, pubescent to puberulent stems and leaves, and a basic chromosome number of x = 7

Nomenclature:

• Babiana Ker Gawl.
  • Ker Gawler: t. 576 (1802)
  • Lewis: 20 (1959)
  • Goldblatt: 577 (1990)
• Acaste Salisb.
  • Salisbury: 322 (1812)
• Anaclanthe N.E.Br.
  • Brown: 269 (1932)

Distribution & Notes:

• Global: Species ± 68, southern Africa including Zimbabwe, 1 species endemic on Socotra
• Southern Africa: Mainly Western Cape and Namaqualand (Northern Cape), most often on rocky sandstone or granite soils, but also clay soils in renosterveld

Additional Notes:

• Many of the short-tubed species are pollinated by long-tongued bees, mostly Anthophoridae
• The long-tubed species are pollinated by long-proboscid flies in the genera Prosoeca and Moegistorhynchus (Nemestrinidae)
• Some of the large, actinomorphic-flowered species are pollinated by monkey beetles (Scarabaeidae)
• Pollination by sunbirds occurs in 2 or 3 red-flowered species