Editing Geosiris (section)

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Geosiris aphylla imported from iNaturalist photo 2963263 on 14 September 2023.jpg
| image_caption = ''Geosiris aphylla''
| parent_authority = Golblatt & J.C.Manning
| taxon = Geosiris
| authority = [[Henri Ernest Baillon|Baill.]]
| type_species = ''Geosiris aphylla''
| type_species_authority = [[Henri Ernest Baillon|Baill.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = ''Geosiris aphylla''<br>
''Geosiris albiflora'' <br>
''Geosiris australiensis''
}}

'''''Geosiris''''' is a [[genus]] in the flowering plant family [[Iridaceae]], first described in 1894. It was thought for many years to contain only one species, ''[[Geosiris aphylla]]'', [[endemic]] to [[Madagascar]]. But then in 2010, a second species was described, ''[[Geosiris albiflora]],'' from [[Mayotte Island]] in the [[Indian Ocean]] northwest of [[Madagascar]].<ref>[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=328153 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]</ref><ref>Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, Bothalia 40: 170 (2010).</ref> In 2017, a third species was found in [[Queensland]], Australia, ''[[Geosiris australiensis]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Geosiris australiensis'' B.Gray & Y.W.Low {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77164635-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |access-date=3 October 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

''Geosiris aphylla'' is sometimes called the "earth-iris." It is a small [[myco-heterotroph]] lacking [[chlorophyll]] and obtaining its nutrients from fungi in the soil. The genus name is derived from the [[Greek language|Greek]] words ''geos'', meaning "earth", and ''iris'', referring to the Iris family of plants.<ref name=Goldblatt2008>{{cite book |author1=Manning, John |author2=Goldblatt, Peter |title=The Iris Family: Natural History & Classification |publisher=Timber Press |location=Portland, Oregon|pages=96–98 |year=2008|isbn=978-0-88192-897-6}}</ref>

Its [[rhizome]]s are slender and scaly, and stems are simple or branched. The leaves are alternate, but having no use, are reduced and scale-like. The  flowers are light purple.

In 1939, [[F. P. Jonker]]<ref>[[F. P. Jonker]], 1939, "Les Géosiridacées, une nouvelle famille de Madagascar" ''Recueil Trav. Bot. Néerl.'' 36:473-179</ref> assigned ''Geosiris'' to its own family '''Geosiridaceae''' in [[Orchidales]], and this was adopted in the [[Cronquist system]],<ref>[[Arthur Cronquist]], ''An Integrated Systems of Classification of Flowering Plants'' (Columbia University Press, 1981) p.1236</ref> with a note that the family was closely related to [[Iridaceae]] or [[Burmanniaceae]]. The [[Angiosperm Phylogeny Group]] has since subsumed the family into Iridaceae; it is currently placed in the monotypic subfamily '''Geosiridoideae'''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Reeves |first1=G |last2=Chase |first2=MW |last3=Goldblatt |first3=P |last4=Rudall |first4=P |last5=Fay |first5=MF |last6=Cox |first6=AV |last7=Lejeune |first7=B |last8=Souza-Chies |first8=T |title=Molecular systematics of Iridaceae: evidence from four plastid DNA regions |pmid=21669639 |journal=American Journal of Botany |date=November 2001 |volume=88 |issue=11 |pages=2074–87 |doi=10.2307/3558433 |jstor=3558433 |doi-access= }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Goldblatt|first1=Peter|last2=Rodriguez|first2=Aaron|last3=Powell|first3=M. P.|last4=Davies|first4=Jonathan T.|last5=Manning|first5=John C.|last6=van der Bank|first6=M.|last7=Savolainen|first7=Vincent|title=Iridaceae 'Out of Australasia'? Phylogeny, Biogeography, and Divergence Time Based on Plastid DNA Sequences|url=https://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/~davies/pdfs/Goldblatt%20et%20al.%202008.pdf|journal=Systematic Botany|volume=33|issue=3|year=2008|pages=495–508|issn=0363-6445|doi=10.1600/036364408785679806|s2cid=1803832|access-date=2020-01-17|archive-date=2016-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304191342/https://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/~davies/pdfs/Goldblatt%20et%20al.%202008.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>