A guide to the genus Neomarica

A guide to the genus Neomarica.

This is an overview of identifying the Neomarica, with a little background on the genus. Neomarica seems have a lot of confusion surrounding it, even though a number are popular ornamental plants. An identification key is provided based on the work of Lindolpho Capellari Junior, in Brazil. Much of this page is really putting the excellent work of others into English.

All errors are entirely my own. Scott Douglass 2008

The key to Neomarica can be found here.

Dichotomous key to the genus Neomarica - PDF
Dichotomous key to the genus Neomarica - MS Word

The Neomarica

The history of this genus is confusing in itself, so it is perhaps best to start at the beginning. The genus was originally called Marica, which covered such genera as Cipura, Cypel. While what we would know of as Neomarica were described as either Moraes or Iris. Which as is evident was a real mess. So SPRAGUE created the genus Neomarica in 1928 to solve these problems.

Then when everything seemed ok, in 1977, RAVENNA suggested Neomarica be moved into nthe trimezia, A proposal which was rejected a few years later, although there is sometimes a bit of confusion. In 2000 CAPELLARI produced a Phd. Thesis on the genus which is probably the most authorative work to date. although like all sciences, many questions remain.

Iris versicolor - Danielle Langlois

So what are the Irises and what is Neomarica? The Iridaceae or more commonly the Iris family, are perennial, herbaceous and bulbous monocots. They have an almost worldwide distribution and the family includes more than 2000 species. Iridaceae can easily be identified by the three tepals and three petals, which is a feature of all Asparagales and Liliales. The distinguishing feature of this family being that of having three stamen compared to six. The ovary is also inferior as for the Orchidaceae. The leaves are also edgewise to the stem with two identical surfaces. More properly called isobilateral and unifacial.

This spectacular Iris versicolor photograph shows a typical if not exagerated, typical Iris from Forillon National Park of Canada, Quebec, Canada. The Tepals make up the small three inner petals, and are characteristic of all the Iridaceae. In most cases they are smaller, though not all. The general pattern being 3 smaller inner tepals though.

Within the Iridaceae there is a small tribe containing three genera called Mariceae. This tribe contains the genera Pseudotrimezia, trimezia, Neomarica. altogether there are about fifty species within this tribe. The Neomarica containing about twenty species. These three genera are easy to distinguish. The Pseudotrimezia are exclusively Brazilian, with the floral segments being roughly equal in size, compared to the other two genera where there are three of unequal size. The leaves are rounded.

The genera of Trimezia and Neomarica can be separated with Neomarica having flattened scapes, and Trimezia having terete scapes, that is essentially round, smooth and tapering. Additionally in the Neomarica species there is always a terminal bract, while this may or not be found in the Trimezia genus and is generally uncommon. In the same way the inflorescence of the Neomarica is lateral, while in Trimezia this is much less common.

Neomarica gracilis

Neomarica variegata

Trimezia martinicensis

Neomarica caerulea
Denis Conrado

Neomarica northiana
Ryan D. Kitko

Neomarica

The genus has caused a lot of identification problems and there seems to a lot of missinformation about, so here is a quick summary of how to roughly identify them. The most commonly seen species as houseplants in temperate regions or as garden plants in warmer areas are:

N. northiana
N. candida
N. gracilis
N. caerulea

The first three cause perhaps the most confusion. The only real way to positively identify specimens is unfortunately to dissect them in a laboratory. However there are some simple, if not perfect, ways to identify Neomarica spp. The image of N. variegata below gives a quick over view of the points to look for in identification.

Firstly the white flowering plants:

N. northiana - The type species for the genus. Distinguished by having punctuated or spotted dots at the tepal base compared to striations.
N. candida - Similar to N. northiana, but the anthers and style are larger. In comparison to N. gracilis the style is thicker and has more projections.
N. gracilis - Similar to N. candida, apart from a bifurcate style the flowers are erect compared to in N. candida where they fall to the ground "walking".
N. guttata - A new species, the external surface of the Tepals are spotted with lilac, easy to distinguish.
N. variegata - Distinguished by its off white Petals and bright purple bands on the Tepals. The only species to occur through Central America.

The Yellow flowering plants:

N. sylvestris - Easily distinguished, the style crest is very large and almost cross shaped.
N. paradoxa - A very uncommon species, distinguished by it's relatively small flowers.
N. portosecurensis - Relatively small plants, the style crest is shaped like a pitch fork. Three pronged.
N. longifolia - Long narrow leaves. Long stalks.
N. imbricata - The pericarp is rough. Looks similar to N. humilis but more cream coloured.
N. humilis - Has a very wide range, reported up into Venezuela. The Style crest is forked.

The Blue flowering plants:

N. caerulea - One of the most popular of all species in the genus. Blue sepals and Petals.
N. eximia - Split from N. caerulea, so a very similar plant. The style is fringed and the plant is recumbent - horizontal.
N. glauca - As above. Split from N. caerulea, so a very similar plant. However the bract is very simple with a solitary flower.
N. rigida - As above. Split from N. caerulea, so a very similar plant. The style has small lateral branches.
N. fluminensis - Discovered in Rio itself. Very large flowers. The external Tepal surface is sky blue.
N. sabini - Very similar to N. fluminensis, however the external Tepal surface is white.
N. rupestris - Due to it's special environmental conditions, rocky hills slopes and poor sandy soils, this species is virtually unknown in horticulture. The style has two protuberances.

Environment

Apart from N. variegata, all of the other species of Neomarica are confined to the North Eastern parts of South America, predominantly in Brazil. The majority being found along the coastal forests known as the Mata Atlantica. In some cases it has been speculated that a few species are salt tolerant. As mentioned species such as N. rupestris are exceptional in being found in the central Brazilian "campos cerrados" or the rocky grasslands of the central plateau. In these cases the plants are in full sun in extremely nutrient poor conditions.

However the typical Neomarica is a forest plant of the shaded forest edges. Where there is sufficient light, but not direct, instead dappled light from through the canopy of the surrounding forest. If these plants are found in the open it will tend to be in places such that they are sheltered from the full strength of the midday sun. For example in gorges and canyons and narrow valleys.

Unfortunately much of their natural environment has already been severely reduced through development.

Mata Atlantica - Leo Mauritsstad

Some additional notes:

In most cases identification is not too hard, the white flowering species seeming to create the most headaches. There is probably some hybridisation in commercial plants that doesn't make life easier. And it should also be remembered that colours etc. will vary depending on many factors. In the field probably the only safe way is to look closely at the style. With N. candida and N. gracilis, which are often confused commericially, the base of the Tepals, striated, versus punctuated is an indicator, however this can only be resolved by looking at the whole plant. N. candida will have it's flowers almost inverted as the leaf bends, close to the ground. N. gracilis will generally be erect. For N. northiana, the overall larger plant size is an absolute indicator. And the brown tepal colouring will be much darker, a rich chocolate brown.

Credits

Images: Danielle Langlois, Denis Conrado, Ryan D. Kitko, Leo Mauritsstad

References

Revisao Taxanomica do Gernero Nemarica Sprague - Portuguese
Bulbous Iris No. 139 p 11-14. (2000). Maurice Boussard. - French