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Hypoxis
Also called Stargrass, Stargrasses
Hypoxis is a genus of flowering plants of the family Hypoxidaceae. The genus has an "almost cosmopolitan" distribution, occurring in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Australia. Europe lacks native species. Most species are in the Southern Hemisphere, especially in southern Africa. Common names for the genus include star-grass, star lily, yellow stars, African potato, and stars. The genus is the largest of the Hypoxidaceae and has its centre of variation in South Africa, where it occurs in open undisturbed grasslands. The name Hypoxis was taken over by Linnaeus in 1759 from a name coined by Paul Reneaulme in 1611 for a superficially similar species of Gagea and meaning "a little sour", referring to the taste of that plant's leaves.
Hypoxis plants have long played a role in traditional African medicine; H. hemerocallidea and H. colchicifolia are the best known species used to make medicine and teas. The genus is not only used in traditional medicine, it has become important also in pharmaceutical preparations.
Red star · Hypoxis decumbens · Star Flower · Common goldstar · Golden Weather Grass · Fringed yellow star-grass · Mexican yellow star-grass · Hypoxis villosa
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Hypoxis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
