High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Iris family or Iridaceae is a family of perennial, herbaceous and bulbous plants included in the monocot order Asparagales, taking its name from the genus Iris. Almost worldwide in distribution and one of the most important families in horticulture, it includes more than 2000 species. Genera such as Crocus and Iris are significant components of the floras of parts of Eurasia, and Iris also is well-represented in North America. Gladiolus and Moraea are large genera and major constituents of the flora of sub-Saharan and Southern Africa. Sisyrinchium, with more than 140 species, is the most diversified Iridaceae genus in the Americas, where several other genera occur, many of them important in tropical horticulture.