Aristea ecklonii

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{Speciesbox

|image = Aristea ecklonii-BSI-yercaud-salem-India.JPG

|genus = Aristea

|species = ecklonii

|authority = Baker 1877

|synonyms_ref =

|synonyms = *Aristea dichotoma Eckl. ex Klatt 1866 not (Thunb.) Ker Gawl. 1827

• Aristea lastii Baker
• Aristea paniculata Pax
• Aristea cyanea De Wild. 1921 not Aiton 1789
• Aristea maitlandii Hutch. published without description
• Aristea stipitata R.C.Foster

}}

{{Commons category|Aristea ecklonii}}

Aristea ecklonii (common names: blue flies, blue stars, blue-eyed iris, blue corn-lily[http://www.floridata.com/ref/A/aris_eck.cfm Floridata entry]) is a plant species in the Iridaceae, first described in 1866. It is native to central and southern Africa from South Africa north to Cameroon and Tanzania.[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=326583 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]Lebrun J.-P. & Stork, A.L. (1995). Énumération des Plants à Fleurs D'Afrique Tropicale 3: 1–341. Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques de la Ville de Genève.Goldblatt, P. (1996). Iridaceae. Flora of Tropical East Africa: 1–89.Geerinck, D (2005). Flore d'Afrique Centrale (Zaïre - Rwanda - Burundi) Iridaceae: 1–102. Jardin Botanique National de Belgique, Meise.Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds.) (2003). Plants of Southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14.: i–vi, 1–1231. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria. The plant is an evergreen perennial with small, blue flowers, growing in clumps with upright, grass-like leaves 15–18 in (38–46 cm) in height.

It is an invasive species in high mountain forests of Sri Lanka near Nuwara Eliya and Horton Plains,Milan Lu, [http://www.ceylontoday.lk/64-81943-news-detail-a-growing-threat.html "A growing threat"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813131624/http://www.ceylontoday.lk/64-81943-news-detail-a-growing-threat.html |date=2016-08-13 }}, Ceylon Today, 01.11.2011. Accessed 19.6.2016.Ranwala S., Marambe B.*, Wijesundara S., Silva P., Weerakoon D., Atapattu N., Gunawardena J., Manawadu L. and Gamage G. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257964465_Post-entry_risk_assessment_of_invasive_alien_flora_of_Sri_Lanka_-_present_status_gap_analysis_and_the_most_troublesome_alien_invaders "Post-entry risk assessment of invasive alien flora of Sri Lanka – present status, gap analysis, and the most troublesome alien invaders"], Pakistan Journal of Weed Science 10/2012; 18:863–871. in New Zealand where it is listed as a pest species on the NPPA banned list, and also Australia.Australian Rainforest Conservation Society. [https://springbrookrescue.org.au/AristeaEcklonii.html "Blue Stars, Aristea ecklonii – a potentially disastrous weed found at Springbrook"]. Retrieved 2016-06-20.