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Tigridia pavonia
Iridaceae FAMILY

Tigridia pavonia

Tigridia pavonia

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitCorm
Growth—

Tigridia pavonia is found mainly in subtropical climates in central America. It prefers climates with hot summers and cool winters. The plant is not very cold-hardy, though it can tolerate short periods with temperatures falling to around -8°c. In areas with cold winters the corms should be dug up in the autumn and stored in a cool but frost free place over winter[1]. In areas with cool summers the plant might not manage to develop adequate corms for subsequent growing[2]. Prefers a well-drained light sandy soil in a warm sunny position[1, 3]. Likes plenty of moisture in the growing season[4]. Plants flower in their first or second year from seed[PFAF]. A beautiful, late flowering corm, it self-sows freely with us on a well-drained soil in Cornwall, even very wet winters do not seem to affect this plant[PFAF].

Propagation

Seed - sow early spring in a greenhouse. It usually germinates freely. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring, after the last expected frosts. If the seedlings are potted up whilst still small and grown on quickly, they sometimes flower in their first year[PFAF]. Division of offsets in the autumn. Store the corms in a cool but frost-free place and plant them out in the late spring around 15cm deep[5]. It is probably best to pot up the smaller corms and grow them on in a greenhouse for a year before planting them out in the spring. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Tigridia+pavonia>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  2. [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  3. [3]Hardy Bulbs.; Including Half-hardy Bulbs and Tuberous and Fiberous-rooted Plants — Grey. C. H. · Williams & Norgate. · 1938 · ISBN - ↩︎Rather dated now, but an immense work on bulbs for temperate zones and how to grow them. Three large volumes.
  4. [4]The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers — Brickell. C. · Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. · 1990 · ISBN 0-86318-386-7 ↩︎Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.
  5. [5]The World of Iridaceae — Innes. C. ↩︎Deals with many of the plants in the Iris family giving brief details of habitat and notes on cultivation. Well illustrated.
  6. [6]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  7. [7]Bulbs — Phillips. R. and Rix. M. · Pan Books · 1989 · ISBN 0-330-30253-1 ↩︎Superbly illustrated, it gives brief details on cultivation and native habitat.
  8. [8]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  9. [9]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  10. [10]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  11. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎