Abstract
Dietes Salisb. ex Klatt is a genus of Iridaceae with six species (Goldblatt 1981), five of which are endemic to Africa and one found only on Lord Howe Island between Australia and New Zealand. All six species are rhizomatous, evergreen, herbaceous perennials. Several have been popular landscape plants in subtropical regions, most notably D. bicolor (Steud.) Sweet ex Klatt, D. grandiflora N.E. Br., and D. iridioides (L.) Sweet ex Klatt (Broschat and Meerow, 1991; Huxley et al., 1992). Dietes iridioides is the most widespread species in the genus (Goldblatt, 1981), occurring from Kenya through eastern South Africa, where it occupies the understory of evergreen forest. Dietes iridioides is distinguished from other species of the genus by its small white flower with light purple-blue style branches and a beaked, cylindrical capsule (Goldblatt, 1981). Goldblatt (1981) characterized the species as 30–60 cm tall (with 15 cm noted as a rare occurrence). The seed-propagated plants representing the cultivar Amatola have a unique, compact, dwarf habit and stem orientation that present a much different architectural effect than the typical, taller, erectstemmed individuals of the species as currently known in horticulture. These characteristics present a very different landscape effect than the typical cultivated representatives of the species, and are worthy of cultivar recognition.
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