Iphigenia is a flowering plant in the family Colchicaceae. It was described by Kunth. It consists of about 14 species distributed from tropical Africa, over Madagascar and India to Australia. As with other taxa in Colchicaceae Iphigenia contains phenethylisoquinoline alkaloids including colchicine.
Contents
Taxonomy
The genus name of Iphigenia is in reference to Iphigenia, the Greek mythological character, who was a daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra, and such was a princess of Mycenae.
Species
As of June 2026, Plants of the World Online accepted the following species:
African species
Iphigenia oliveri Engl.
Iphigenia pauciflora Martelli
Madagascan species
Iphigenia boinensis H.Perrier
Iphigenia robusta Baker
Arabian species
Iphigenia socotrana Thulin
Indian species
Iphigenia devrukhensis P.S.More & P.V.Naikwade
Iphigenia indica (L.) A.Gray ex Kunth - range extending to China, New Guinea + Australia
Iphigenia magnifica Ansari & R.S.Rao
Iphigenia mysorensis Arekal & S.N.Ramaswamy
Iphigenia pallida Baker
Iphigenia ratnagirica Almeida & Almeida
Iphigenia sahyadrica Ansari & R.S.Rao
Iphigenia stellata Blatt.
Australian species
Iphigenia brevis Jian Wang ter