ixia, noun

Plurals:
ixias, occasionally ixiae.
Origin:
Modern Latin, GreekShow more Modern Latin, from Greek ixios birdlime, mistletoe.
Any of several bulbous plants of the genera Dierama (harebell) and Ixia of the Iridaceae, with showy flowers of various colours; kalossie; also called pypie. See also aandblom, sparaxis, weeskindertjies.
1775 [see gladiolus].
1794 T. Martyn Rousseau’s Botany 154There are some very beautiful genera in..this class, particularly the Ixia and Iris.
1804 C. Smith Conversations II. 119An almost endless variety of ixias.
1806 J. Barrow Trav. I. 296Several species of the Ixia, of the Morea, and Gladiolus, now in full bloom, adorned the sides of the hills.
1810 G. Barrington Acct of Voy. 341The tribe of ixias are numerous and extremely elegant; but none more singular than the species which bears a long upright spike of pale green flowers.
1812 A. Plumptre in Smuts & Alberts Forgotten Highway through Ceres & Bokkeveld (1988) 29The valley..is called the Uye, or Bulb-valley, because many sorts of Iris and Ixia grow here, the bulbs of which the Hottentots eat, and are very fond of them.
1841 Duncan Hist. Guernsey 557The innumerable species of ixia, sparaxis, and other cognate genera of Cape bulbs.
1852 Johnson Cottage Gard. Dict. 517The true Ixias are known from Sparaxis by not having, like it, a jagged sheath.
1856 R.E.E. Wilmot Diary (1984) 35A pretty pink and yellow centred ixia and a pure white but fragile orchid of large size.
1890 A. Martin Home Life 21Another of our favourites was the aantblom, a kind of ixia.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 246Kalotjes, Ixias — the popular name of these pretty wild flowers.
1928 Jrnl of Botanical Soc. of S. Afr. XIV. 7Many of our ‘bulbous’ plants may be considered safely established in cultivation. The number is steadily increasing — more especially in the case of the family, Iridaceae, whose Sparaxis, Tritonia, Ixia, are acknowledged favourites.
1957 L.G. Green Beyond City Lights 104Green ixia, an iris grown in many pots in England last century, is becoming rare at Tulbagh; but this is the pride of local flower-lovers.
1966 C.A. Smith Common Names 256Ixia, Many species of Dierama, see harebell, and Ixia, see kalossie.
1972 A.A. Mauve in Std Encycl. of Sn Afr. VI. 167Ixia, The 44 species which comprise this endemic Cape genus, belonging to the Iridaceae, are often called kalossies or klossies.
Any of several bulbous plants of the genera Dierama (harebell) and Ixia of the Iridaceae, with showy flowers of various colours; kalossie; also called pypie.
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17941972