This is a post about a flower called Aunt-Eliza and I will start by telling you how it came by that name.
It belongs to the Iris family of plants the Iridiceae, within that family it belongs to the genus Crocosmia (a small genus of plants that are all native to South Africa) and it’s species name is paniculata.
Giving it the scientific name Crocosmia paniculata.
It used to be classified as belonging to the genus Antholyza, say it out loud Aunt-Eliza. Geddit? 🙂
It is a garden escapee that has become naturalised and now grows in the wild all over the UK.
A Tramp in the Woods 
Oh great, I was looking for the name of this flower to name my picture !! Very useful !
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You have an Aunt Eliza too? What a coincidence.:) 🙂 Thank you Gin.
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I took it a few months ago when I was in the UK, but didn’t what it was 😉
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– and all over New Zealand as well 🙂
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This flower gets around. It’s a shame that their Elephants don’t escape so easily 🙂 Thank you Maureen
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How divine. I would love to have those in my garden. Love the name too and how it came about. 🙂
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Thanks Elizabeth 🙂 I am not sure about the Midwest but in the UK they are in flower now and I bet the garden centres will be full of them.
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Loved your story, as my birth name is Iris and I was just this year introduced to a cr0sosmia. Smashing set of pictures.
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Thank you Jacqui 🙂
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What a dramatic flower!
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Thank you Lora, it is lovely to find it amongst everything else out there 🙂
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They used to be called montbretia didn’t they? I like them very much. I had a flower bed full of them until last year but decided to get rid of them as they were overcrowded and spreading into the lawn. This year I have found some growing in the ditch! Can’t get rid of them obviously.
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Thanks Clare 🙂 Montbretia? Interesting question. I try to be as careful as I can with my facts and before posting this I checked out my photo’s with the experts. I suggested the common name Montbretia. and was told that name referred to a variety of different garden hybrids known as Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora that are a cross between C. aurea and C. pottsii. They have smooth leaves, it is the pleated leaves that identify this as C. paniculata. Fair enough but I find the name Montbretia applied to other species as well and pleated leaves aside if Montbretia is a name in common usage then Montbretia is a valid common name. There is no requirement for common names to be scientifically correct. This one has got pleated leaves so technically it is Aunt-Eliza but one man’s Aunt-Eliza is another man’s Montbretia it is the scientific name that we rely on to sort out the difference.
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Thank-you for the information. When I was young all types of crocosmia were called montbretia as far as I was aware – general ignorance and common usage. It stopped suddenly and I haven’t heard anyone call them montbretia for years!
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We’re big fans of this long bloomer with its crimson blossoms and so are our hummingbirds! It has yet to escape into the wild here in New England. The voles ate a large patch of it in our garden last winter, so there’s yet another fan of this plant. 😉
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Thank you Eliza 🙂 I am watching the Humming Birds on quite a few blogs now. You are so lucky to have them.
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