# Freesia laxa

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{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Anomatheca laxa01.JPG
|genus = Freesia
|species = laxa
|authority = ([Thunb.](/source/Carl_Peter_Thunberg)) [Goldblatt](/source/Peter_Goldblatt) & [J.C.Manning](/source/John_Charles_Manning)
|synonyms =
  {{Specieslist
  |Gladiolus laxus|Thunb.
  |Meristostigma laxum|(Thunb.) A.Dietr.
  |Lapeirousia laxa|(Thunb.) N.E.Br.
  |Anomatheca laxa|(Thunb.) Goldblatt
  |Lapeirousia cruenta|(Lindl.) Baker
  |Freesia cruenta|(Lindl.) Klatt.
  }}
|synonyms_ref = <ref name=WCSP_Fl/>
}}

'''''Freesia laxa''''', commonly known as '''flowering grass''',<ref name = RHSPF>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/167668/i-Freesia-laxa-i/Details | title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Freesia laxa'' | accessdate = 27 February 2018}}</ref> is a small [species](/source/species) of [corm](/source/corm)ous [flowering plant](/source/flowering_plant) in the [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) Iridaceae, from eastern and southern Africa, from Kenya to northeastern South Africa.<ref name=WCSP_Fl/> It is grown in gardens as an [ornamental plant](/source/ornamental_plant).

==Description==
''Freesia laxa'' grows from corms, reaching about {{convert|15|-|30|cm|in|abbr=on|0}} tall. The green leaves are arranged in a flat "fan" from which the flower stalk emerges. The flowers are flattened, about {{convert|2|cm|in|abbr=on|1}} across. Their colour varies considerably. The ground colour is red, white or pale blue. The bases of the lowest three [tepals](/source/tepals) usually have a darker marking, which may be red or purple, although it is absent in the pure white form. The seeds are bright red.<ref name=Math87>{{Citation |last=Mathew |first=Brian |year=1987 |title=The Smaller Bulbs |location=London |publisher=B.T. Batsford |isbn=978-0-7134-4922-8 }}, p. 9</ref><ref name=Inne85>{{Citation |last=Innes |first=Clive |year=1985 |title=The World of Iridaceae |location=Ashington, UK |publisher=Holly Gate International |isbn=978-0-948236-01-3 }}, p. 18</ref>

It is native to the eastern side of southern Africa,<ref name=Math87/> from [Kenya](/source/Kenya) to [South Africa](/source/South_Africa),<ref name=WCSP_Fl/> where it grows in somewhat moist conditions. It dies down to a corm in the winter, growing again at the end of spring and flowering in summer.<ref name=Math87/> In the wild, in the Southern Hemisphere, it flowers between October and December.<ref name=Inne85/>

==Systematics==
This small bulbous species has been known by a variety of names. The name ''Gladiolus laxus'' was originally published by [Carl Thunberg](/source/Carl_Peter_Thunberg) in 1823. [Peter Goldblatt](/source/Peter_Goldblatt) transferred the species to ''Anomatheca laxa'' in 1971; [Nicholas Brown](/source/Nicholas_Edward_Brown) changed it to ''Lapeirousia laxa'' in 1928; Goldblatt with his colleague [John Charles Manning](/source/John_Charles_Manning) settled on ''Freesia laxa'' in 1995.<ref name=WCSP_Fl>{{Citation |contribution=Freesia laxa|title=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families |publisher=[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew](/source/Royal_Botanic_Gardens%2C_Kew) |url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=328131 |accessdate=2012-08-13}}</ref> Separately, in 1830, [John Lindley](/source/John_Lindley) described ''Anomatheca cruenta'' which [John Baker](/source/John_Gilbert_Baker) transferred to ''Lapeirousia cruenta'' in 1892.<ref name=WCSP_Ac>{{Citation |contribution=Anomatheca cruenta|title=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families |publisher=[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew](/source/Royal_Botanic_Gardens%2C_Kew) |url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=326436 |accessdate=2012-08-13}}</ref> Lindley's plant is now regarded as part of ''Freesia laxa''.<ref name=WCSP_Fl/>

Forms with blue flowers are treated as ''Freesia laxa'' subsp. ''azurea'', other forms being placed in ''Freesia laxa'' subsp. ''laxa''.<ref name=PBS/><ref>{{cite web |title=Freesia laxa - FNA |url=http://beta.floranorthamerica.org/Freesia_laxa |website=beta.floranorthamerica.org |access-date=22 July 2024}}</ref>

==Cultivation==
''Freesia laxa'' is sufficiently hardy to be grown outdoors in all but the coldest parts of the [British Isles](/source/British_Isles).<ref name=Math87/> It requires a light soil and a sunny position. In colder areas, the corms can be lifted and dried off during the winter. It can be propagated by dividing groups of corms or by seed.<ref name=Math87/> It can be somewhat invasive through self-sowing when grown in favourable conditions.<ref name=PBS>{{Citation |title=Freesia |publisher=Pacific Bulb Society |url=http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Freesia |accessdate=2012-08-13 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622234346/http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Freesia |archivedate=2012-06-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<!-- (NO LONGER AGM) This plant< and the white-flowered [cultivar](/source/cultivar) ''F. laxa'' [var.](/source/variety_(botany)) ''alba''<ref>{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Freesia laxa'' var. ''alba''|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/303181/Freesia-laxa-var-alba/Details | accessdate = 7 June 2020}}</ref> have gained the [Royal Horticultural Society](/source/Royal_Horticultural_Society)'s [Award of Garden Merit](/source/Award_of_Garden_Merit).<ref>{{cite web  | url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf | title = AGM Plants - Ornamental | date = July 2017 | page = 39 | publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | accessdate = 27 February 2018}}</ref> -->

{{multiple image|total_width=600|align=center
|title=Variation in flower colour
|width1=1998|height1=1368|image1=Freesia laxa (white with red mark form).jpg
|caption1=This form is sometimes given the cultivar name 'Joan Evans'<ref name=PBS/>
|width2=2574|height2=1755|image2=Freesia laxa (white form).jpg
|caption2=Almost pure white form
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{cite book | author=Pink, A. | url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11892|title=Gardening for the Million| year=2004 | publisher=[Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation](/source/Project_Gutenberg)}}

==External links==
{{Commons}} 
*[http://nature.jardin.free.fr/bulbe/ft_freesia_laxa.html ''Freesia laxa'']
* {{AfricanPlants|Freesia laxa}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q5501152}}

laxa
Category:Garden plants
Category:Flora of Africa
Category:Plants described in 1823

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Freesia laxa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freesia_laxa) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freesia_laxa?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.