To me, one of the most striking perennials in Hawaii was Neomarica northiana or walking iris. Clearly the plant resembles Iris, what with its flower structure of standards and falls. Though it's distinguishable from Iris because a plantlet develops around a newly pollinated flower. At this point, when the leaves begin to grow from the base of the old flower, it becomes weighed down and eventually falls to the ground and develops roots. Thus the name walking iris.
Marica is the name of the Roman water nymph who lived in the River Liris. Neo simply means new.
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