Tigridia , is a genus of bulbous or cormous flowering plants belonging to the family Iridaceae. With common names including peacock flowers, tiger-flowers or shell flowers, they have large showy flowers; and one species, Tigridia pavonia, is often cultivated for this. The approximately 60 species in this family grow in the Americas, from Mexico down to Chile.
The tigridia flower is short lived, each often blooming for only one day, but often several flowers will bloom from the same stalk. Usually they are dormant during the winter dry-season. The roots are edible and were eaten by the Aztecs of Mexico who called it cacomitl, and its flower ocēlōxōchitl "jaguar flower".
It was first published by French botanist Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in his book Genera plantarum on page 57 in 1789.
The genus name Tigridia means "tiger-like", and alludes to the coloration and spotting of the flowers of the type species Tigridia pavonia.
Species
There are 60 species accepted by Plants of the World Online;
Tigridia albicans Ravenna - Tacna Province in Peru
Tigridia alpestris Molseed - Mexico
Tigridia amatlanensis Aarón Rodr. & García-Mend - Oaxaca
Tigridia arequipensis
Tigridia augusta Drapiez - central + southern Mexico
Tigridia bicolor Molseed - Oaxaca
Tigridia catarinensis Cruden - San Luis Potosí
Tigridia chiapensis Molseed ex Cruden - Chiapas
Tigridia chrysantha Cruden & S.J.Walker ex McVaugh - Jalisco
Tigridia citrina
Tigridia coerulea
Tigridia convoluta (Ravenna) Goldblatt - Oaxaca
Tigridia conzattii (R.C.Foster) Goldblatt - Oaxaca
Tigridia dugesii S.Watson - Jalisco
Tigridia durangense Molseed ex Cruden - Durango
Tigridia ehrenbergii (Schltdl.) Molseed - Mexico
Tigridia estelae López-Ferr. & Espejo - Durango
Tigridia flammea (Lindl.) Ravenna - Michoacán
Tigridia fosteri
Tigridia galanthoides Molseed - southern Mexico
Tigridia gracielae Aarón Rodr. & Ortiz-Cat. - México State
Tigridia hallbergii Molseed - central + southern Mexico, Guatemala
Tigridia heliantha
Tigridia hintonii Molseed - Guerrero
Tigridia huajuapanensis Molseed ex Cruden - Oaxaca
Tigridia huyanae (J.F.Macbr.) Ravenna - Lima Province in Peru
Tigridia illecebrosa Cruden - central + southern Mexico
Tigridia immaculata (Herb.) Ravenna - Oaxaca, Chiapas, Guatemala
Tigridia inusitata (Cruden) Ravenna - Guerrero
Tigridia latifolia
Tigridia longispatha
Tigridia mariaetrinitatis Espejo & López-Ferr. - Oaxaca
Tigridia martinezii Calderón - Hidalgo
Tigridia matudae Molseed - México State
Tigridia meleagris (Lindl.) G.Nicholson - central + southern Mexico, Guatemala
Tigridia mexicana Molseed - central + southern Mexico
Tigridia minuta Ravenna - Apurímac + Ayacucho Provinces in Peru
Tigridia molseediana Ravenna - Oaxaca, Guatemala
Tigridia mortonii Molseed - México State
Tigridia multiflora (Baker) Ravenna - central + southern Mexico
Tigridia oaxacana (Molseed) Goldblatt - Oaxaca
Tigridia orthantha (Lem.) Ravenna - Oaxaca, Chiapas, Guatemala
Tigridia pavonia (L.f.) Redouté - Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras
Tigridia pearcei (Baker) Ravenna - Huánuco region in Peru
Tigridia philippiana I.M.Johnst. - Tarapacá + Antofagasta Provinces in Chile
Tigridia potosina López-Ferr. & Espejo - San Luis Potosí
Tigridia pugana Aarón Rodr. & Ortiz-Cat. - Jalisco
Tigridia pulchella B.L.Rob. - Jalisco, Michoacán
Tigridia purpusii Molseed - Puebla
Tigridia purruchucana (Herb.) Ravenna - Lima Province in Peru
Tigridia raimondii Ravenna - Arequipa Province in Peru
Tigridia rzedowskiana Aarón Rodr. & Ortiz-Cat. - Querétaro
Tigridia seleriana (Loes.) Ravenna - Oaxaca, Chiapas, Guatemala
Tigridia suarezii Aarón Rodr. & Ortiz-Cat. - Jalisco
Tigridia tepoxtlana Ravenna - Morelos
Tigridia tuitensis
Tigridia vanhouttei(Baker) Espejo & López-Ferr - central + northeastern Mexico
Tigridia venusta Cruden - Michoacán
Tigridia violacea Schiede ex Schltdl. - central + southern Mexico
Hybrids
Several hybrids exist, including; Tigridia × mathewii , first published in Phytoneuron 2015-53: 4 in 2015. It is an artificial hybrid, a cross of T. orthantha × T. pavonia.
Distribution
They are native to the countries (and regions) of; northern Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Peru.