Botanical name:

Crocosmia

Common name:

Montbretia

Crocosmia, is a small genus of perennial species in the iris family Iridaceae, native to the grasslands of Cape Floristic Region, South Africa. They can be evergreen or deciduous perennial herbs, that grow from basal underground corms. The basal, alternate leaves are cauline (meaning, belonging to the stem) and distichous (meaning, growing in two vertical ranks). The leaves are linear or lanceolate. The blades are parallel-veined. The margin is entire. The corms are unusual in forming vertical chains with the youngest at the top and oldest and largest buried most deeply in the soil. The roots of the lowermost corm in a chain are contractile roots and drag the corm deeper into the ground where conditions allow. The chains of corms are fragile and easily separated, a quality that has enabled some species to become invasive and difficult to control in the garden.