Many species in the iris family have a great economic importance in ornamental horticulture and the cut flower industry, especially Gladiolus, Freesia, Sparaxis, Iris, Tigridia ( tiger lily ), Ixia ( corn lily ), Romulea, Neomarica, Moraea ( butterfly lily ), Nemastylis, Belamcanda, Sisyrinchium ( blue-eyed grass ), Crocosmia and Trimezia.

Sparaxis tricolor, known by the common names Wandflower, Harlequin flower, and Sparaxis, is a bulb-forming perennial plant that grows in well-drained sunny soil.

Sparaxis ( Harlequin Flower ) is a genus in the family Iridaceae with about 13 species endemic to Cape Province, South Africa.

Sparaxis bulbifera is the commonest in cultivation, with flowers from cream to yellow or purple.

Sparaxis tricolor has bright red flowers with yellow and black centres.

A group of species with asymmetrical flowers marked in mauve and yellow, including Sparaxis variegata and Sparaxis villosa, was formerly treated as the genus Synnotia.

Sparaxis tricolor is cultivated worldwide as an ornamental plant.

* Sparaxis, 15 species from Southern Africa.

Thus, Aristea ( approximately 56 species ), which has radially symmetric, mostly blue flowers, has three different pollination systems, whereas Sparaxis ( 15 species ), with both zygomorphic and secondarily radially symmetric flowers, in a variety of colors, exhibits five different pollination systems, and Gladiolus, with a similar array of floral types but over two hundred species, exploits seven different pollination systems, some of which have evolved multiple times.

Several other genera ( e. g., Crocus, Dietes, Sparaxis, Tritonia, Watsonia ) are cultivated in gardens in both tropical and temperate areas.