Drimia is a genus of African, south European and south Asian flowering plants. In the APG IV classification system, it is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae (formerly known as Hyacinthaceae). When broadly circumscribed, the genus includes a number of other genera previously treated separately, including Litanthus, Rhodocodon, Schizobasis and Urginea.
One of the best-known species is the sea squill, Drimia maritima (formerly Urginea maritima).
Description Drimia species are usually deciduous, more rarely evergreen, growing from bulbs. The bulbs may be underground or occur on or near the surface. Each bulb has one to several leaves that are often dry by the time the flowers open. The inflorescence is in the form of a raceme, with one to many flowers. At least the lower inflorescence bracts have spurs (a characteristic of the tribe Urgineeae). The individual flowers generally last for only one to two days and have white to yellowish green or brown tepals that are either free or joined into a basal tube. The tepals often have a darker central keel. After fertilization, an ovoid capsule forms with several seeds in each locule. The seeds are black and winged.
Taxonomy A formal description of genus Drimia first appeared in the fourth edition of Species Plantarum, published in 1799, authored by Carl Ludwig Willdenow. The name was attributed to Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin. When describing Drimia elata (the type species of the genus) in a work published in 1797, Jacquin said that he was unable to assign it to one of the known genera, and so constructed a new one. The name is derived from the Greek drimeia, the feminine form of the adjective drimys meaning "bitter" or "acrid", referring to the taste of the bulb..
The boundaries between genera within the Scilloideae are not completely settled. The situation has been described as being in a "state of flux". As early as 1977, it was suggested that Urginea be merged into Drimia, although other small genera continued to be kept separate. In 2000, Peter Goldblatt and John Charles Manning proposed including other related genera, including Litanthus, Rhadamanthus and Schizobasis, a position supported later by some molecular phylogenetic studies. This broad circumscription of Drimia is accepted by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Other sources prefer to maintain a larger number of segregated genera. Regardless of whether a broad or strict view is taken of Drimia, it is placed in the tribe Urgineeae of the subfamily Scilloideae (or the subfamily Urgineoideae of the family Hyacinthaceae if this family is separated from Asparagaceae).
Litanthus group The genus Litanthus was for a long time monotypic, with the sole species L. pusillus, before in 2000 Goldblatt and Manning included it in Drimia. A further species, Drimia stenocarpa, was added to the group in 2014. The Litanthus group is characterized by one- or occasionally two-flowered inflorescences with drooping tubular flowers whose tepals are united at the base for more than half their length.
Rhodocodon group The genus Rhodocodon was included in Drimia by Goldblatt and Manning in 2000. The species of Rhodocodon, or the Rhodocodon group within Drimia, including D. cryptopoda, form a well supported clade endemic to Madagascar. They appear to be the product of a single invasion of Madagascar by an African species. A total of 13 species are recognized by those who separate the genus from Drimia.
Schizobasis group The genus Schizobasis was included in Drimia by Goldblatt and Manning in 2000. As many as eight species have been described, but in 2014 these were reduced to two: Drimia intricata, including all the previously described species, and the new species Drimia sigmoidea. The Schizobasis group is distinguished by its well branched, thin-stemmed inflorescence and small, filiform leaves that are found only in seedlings, disappearing in mature plants.
Species , Plants of the World Online accepts 130 species.
Drimia acarophylla E.Brink & A.P.Dold Drimia albiflora (B.Nord.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia altissima (L.f.) Ker Gawl. Drimia anomala (Baker) Baker Drimia anthericoides Drimia aphylla (Forssk.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia arenicola (B.Nord.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia aurantiaca (H.Lindb.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia barbata Drimia barkerae Oberm. ex J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia basutica (E.Phillips) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia brachyandra Drimia brachystachys (Baker) Stedje Drimia calcarata (Baker) Stedje Drimia capensis (Burm.f.) Wijnands Drimia chalumnensis A.P.Dold & E.Brink Drimia ciliata (L.f.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia ciliolata Drimia cochlearis Mart.-Azorín Drimia congesta Bullock Drimia convallarioides (L.f.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia coromandeliana Drimia cryptopoda (Baker) Pfosser Drimia cyanelloides (Baker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia decipiens Drimia delagoensis (Baker) Jessop Drimia densiflora Drimia depressa Drimia dregei (Baker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia echinostachya (Baker) Eggli & N.R.Crouch Drimia ecklonii Drimia edwardsii N.R.Crouch & Mart.-Azorín Drimia elata Jacq. Drimia exigua Stedje Drimia exuviata (Jacq.) Jessop Drimia fasciata (B.Nord.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia filifolia (Poir.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia fimbrimarginata Snijman Drimia flagellaris T.J.Edwards Drimia fragrans (Jacq.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia fugax (Moris) Stearn Drimia glaucescens (Engl. & K.Krause) H.Scholz Drimia glaucophylla Drimia globuligera Drimia govindappae Drimia guineensis (Speta) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia haworthioides Baker Drimia hesperantha J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia hesperia (Webb & Berthel.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia hispidoplicata Drimia hockii De Wild. Drimia hyacinthoides Baker Drimia incerta A.Chev. ex Hutch. Drimia indica (Roxb.) Jessop Drimia intricata (Baker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia involuta (J.C.Manning & Snijman) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia jackyi Drimia jeevae Drimia johnstonii (Baker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia juncifolia Drimia karooica Drimia khubusensis Drimia kniphofioides (Baker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia ledermannii K.Krause Drimia longipedicellata Drimia macrantha (Baker) Baker Drimia macrocarpa Stedje Drimia macrocentra (Baker) Jessop Drimia marginata (Thunb.) Jessop Drimia maritima (L.) Stearn Drimia mascarenensis (Baker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia maura (Maire) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia media Jacq. ex Willd. Drimia minor Drimia minuta Goldblatt & J.C.Manning Drimia modesta Drimia monophylla Drimia montana Drimia multifolia (G.J.Lewis) Jessop Drimia multisetosa (Baker) Jessop Drimia mzimvubuensis van Jaarsv. Drimia nagarjunae (Hemadri & Swahari) Anand Kumar Drimia nana (Snijman) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia noctiflora (Batt. & Trab.) Stearn Drimia numidica (Jord. & Fourr.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia occultans G.Will. Drimia oliverorum J.C.Manning Drimia ollivieri (Maire) Stearn Drimia palaestina Drimia pancration (Steinh.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia pellabergensis Drimia physodes Drimia pinguis Drimia platyphylla Drimia polyantha (Blatt. & McCann) Stearn Drimia porphyrantha (Bullock) Stedje Drimia prolifera Drimia psilostachya (Welw. ex Baker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia pulchromarginata J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia purpurascens Drimia raogibikei Drimia razii Ansari Drimia rupicola (Trimen) Dassan. in M.D.Daddanayake & al. (eds.) Drimia salteri (Compton) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia sanguinea (Schinz) Jessop Drimia schizobasoides Drimia sclerophylla J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia secunda (B.Nord.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia secundiflora Drimia senegalensis (Kunth) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia serotina Drimia sigmoidea J.C.Manning & J.M.J.Deacon Drimia simensis (Hochst. ex A.Rich.) Stedje Drimia sphaerocephala Baker in W.H.Harvey & auct. suc. (eds.) Drimia stenocarpa J.C.Manning & J.M.J.Deacon Drimia sudanica Friis & Vollesen Drimia toxicaria Drimia trichophylla Drimia uniflora J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia uranthera (R.A.Dyer) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia urgineoides (Baker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia vermiformis J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia vespertina Drimia virens (Schltr.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia viridula (Baker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt Drimia wightii Lakshmin. Drimia zambesiaca Drimia zebrina Drimia zebrinella
In addition, 10 species described in 2015, and placed by the authors in Rhodocodon, are, , treated as "unplaced" in the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, which does not recognize the genus; none have names in Drimia:
Rhodocodon apiculatus H.Perrier ex Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig Rhodocodon calcicola Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig Rhodocodon campanulatus Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig Rhodocodon cyathiformis H.Perrier ex Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig Rhodocodon floribundus H.Perrier ex Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig Rhodocodon graciliscapus Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig Rhodocodon intermedius H.Perrier ex Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig Rhodocodon linearifolius Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig Rhodocodon monophyllus Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig Rhodocodon rotundus H.Perrier ex Knirsch, Mart.-Azorín & Wetschnig
Distribution and habitat The broadly defined genus has about 130 species found in Africa, including Madagascar, the Mediterranean region and southern Asia. About half of all the species occur in southern Africa, where species diversity is greatest in semi-arid regions with winter rainfall. Drimia generally is found in regions with seasonal dryness.
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Further reading