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Babiana
Babiana () is a genus of geophytes in the family Iridaceae with 93 recognized species as of March 2022. The leaves consist of a stalk and a blade that are at an angle to each other. The leaf blades are entire, laterally flattened and pleated, and often hairy. Each individual flower is subtended by two hairy or smooth bracts that are green in most species. The outer bract is often the largest of the two. In most species the bracts have a dry, brown tip, but in a few species it is entirely green or entirely dry when flowering or the outer bract is translucent and has a papery texture. The inner bract (between the flower and the stem) is forked or split all the way to its base.
Babiana nervosa (under its synonym B. stricta) is sometimes cultivated in gardens and grows best in more or less Mediterranean climates and well-draining soils. Corms of this species are available from commercial growers.
The vast majority of the 93 currently recognised species of bobbejaantjie occur in the west and southwest of the South African Cape provinces and in the southwest of Namibia, areas with predominant rainfall during the winter. Only two species occur in areas with predominantly summer rainfall. Babiana hypogaea can be found in southeastern Namibia, and in northwestern and central South Africa in particular Bushmanland and the Great Karoo. B. bainesii has a large distribution and can be found in Botswana, Namibia, central and eastern South Africa, Zimbabwe and southernmost Zambia.
Baboon Root · Babiana angustifolia · Brandvlei Bobbejaantjie · Violet Scent Bobbejaantjie · Pakhuis Bobbejaantjie · Mini Rat Tail Bobbejaantjie · Nama Bobbejaantjie · Pink Bobejaantjie · Needleleaf Bobbejaantjie · Limestone Bobbejaantjie · Cederberg Bobbejaantjie · Cinnamon Bobbejaantjie
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Babiana by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
