Tigridia (pronounced /taɪˈɡrɪdiə/),¹ the tiger-flowers or shell flowers, is a genus of bulbous or cormous plants, belonging to the family Iridaceae. They have large showy flowers and one species, Tigridia pavonia, is often cultivated for this. The approximately thirty five species in this family grow in the Western Hemisphere, from Mexico to Chile. The tigridia flower is short lived, each often blooming for only one day, but often several flowers will bloom from the same stalk. Usually they are dormant during the winter dry-season. Its roots are edible and was eaten by the Aztecs of Mexico who called it cacomitl and its flower ocēlōxōchitl “Jaguar flower”. The genus name means “tiger-like” and alludes to the coloration and spotting of the flowers of the type species Tigridia pavonia.²