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Geosiris aphylla

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Geosiris aphylla
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Iridaceae
Genus: Geosiris
Species:
G. aphylla
Binomial name
Geosiris aphylla

Geosiris aphylla is a species in the flowering plant family Iridaceae, first described in 1894. It is endemic to Madagascar.[1]

Geosiris aphylla is sometimes called the earth-iris. It is a small myco-heterotroph lacking chlorophyll and obtaining its nutrients from fungi in the soil.[2]

Description

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Its rhizomes are slender and scaly, and stems are simple or branched. The leaves are alternate, but having no use, are reduced and scale-like (hence the epithet "aphylla," meaning "without leaves"). The flowers are light purple.

Range and habitat

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Geosiris aphylla is native to central and eastern Madagascar. It lives in forest humus in humid lowland and montane forests, between 400 and 1200 meters elevation.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. ^ Manning, John; Goldblatt, Peter (2008). The Iris Family: Natural History & Classification. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. pp. 96–98. ISBN 978-0-88192-897-6.
  3. ^ Jonker, F.P. (1939). "Les Géosiridacées, une nouvelle famille de Madagascar". Mededelingen van het Botanisch Museum en Herbarium van de Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht, vol. 60 no. 1, pp. 473-479. 1 January 1939.
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