Klattia

Klattia is a genus of evergreen shrubs with a woody underground caudex in the Iridaceae family. There are three species. It is a genus in a group referred to as South African woody irids. This fascinating and little studied group of plants also includes the genus Nivenia (with eleven species) and Witsenia (with three species). Klattia leaves are sword-shaped forming a two-ranked fan. Flowers are red, yellow, or purplish black with pale claws. Their flowers resemble a large paintbrush as they are enclosed in enlarged, colored leaves and are adapted for pollination by sunbirds. Klattia species occur on rocky sandstone mountain slopes in wetter sites of the winter rainfall zone in the Cape region of South Africa.