Eleutherine

Eleutherine
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Iridaceae
Subfamily:	Iridoideae
Tribe:	Tigridieae
Genus:	Eleutherine Herb.[1]
Type species
Eleutherine plicata Herb.
Synonyms[2]
Galatea Salisb. 1812 Galatea Herb. 1819 name published without description Galatea Salisb. ex Kuntze 1891 not Salisb. 1812

Eleutherine is a genus of herbaceous, perennial and bulbous plants in the Iris family (Iridaceae), first described as a genus in 1843. It is native to Latin America and the West Indies.^[2]

The genus name may be derived from the Greek word eleuthera, meaning "free".^[3]

Species^[2]

1. Eleutherine angusta Ravenna - Paraguay, Mato Grosso do Sul
2. Eleutherine bulbosa (Mill.) Urb. - West Indies, South America; naturalized in Zaire, Réunion, India, Cambodia, Vietnam
3. Eleutherine citriodora (Ravenna) Ravenna - Bolivia, northern Argentina
4. Eleutherine latifolia (Standl. & L.O.Williams) Ravenna - Mexico, Central America, Bolivia, northern Argentina

References

1. Edwards's Botanical Register 29: t. 57 (1843), conserved name
2. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
3. Manning, John; Goldblatt, Peter (2008). The Iris Family: Natural History & Classification. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. pp. 240–41. ISBN 0-88192-897-6.

• Peter Goldblatt and Neil Snow. 1991. Systematics and Chromosome Cytology of Eleutherine Herbert (Iridaceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 78, No. 4 (1991), pp. 942-949.