Neomarica Sprague is a genus of South and Central American plants in the Iridaceae family that have a rhizomatous rootstock. The genus was established in 1928 and includes plants previously known as Marica and Galanthea. In Brazil the native name used for these plants is Marica. There is a strong similarity of flower morphology between Trimezia, Cipura and Cypella but the latter two belong to tribe Tigridieae as can be identified by the pleated leaves and true bulbs. Still, the same species may have been listed at one time under any of these genera. The main perceived morphological difference between the closer related Neomarica and Trimezia is that the axis ("stem") is flat in Neomarica and round in Trimezia. The sexual parts are identical.
These closely related genera are still subject to taxonomical discussion: Lindolpho Capellari Junior revised this genus in 2000 (Revisão taxonomica do genero Neomarica Sprague (Tribo Mariceae, Subfamilia Iridoideae, Iridaceae) and some of the information on this page comes from a translation of his work. More information can be found by downloading his revision (Revisão taxonomica do genero Neomarica Sprague (Tribo Mariceae, Subfamilia Iridoideae, Iridaceae)). It is written in Portuguese. More recently, most genera in tribe Mariceae (or Trimezieae as others put it, so not even the tribe is fixed) have been found to be not monophyletic (Lovo et al. 2012), which has inspired further studies and a reclassification into 5 genera based on both morphological and genetic evidence (Lovo et al. 2018). However as of December 2019, Plants of the World online sinks all members of the Tribe into Trimezia, reducing Neomarica to synonym status. By 2025 most resources included Neomarica in Trimezia and we followed, although there are still gardening links using this name.
Most of the species need warm conditions and high humidity to thrive and ample water during their flowering season. They grow in shade in subtropical areas in the wild. They come from regions where the soils are extremely well drained (they can also be found in a thick layer of forest debris). Such soils are red, acid, high in iron and aluminum and notoriously low in "normal" nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, etc.
Seed sowing advice from Alberto Castillo for Neomarica caerulea, Neomarica candida and Neomarica northiana: These grow in very hot conditions, say like in Honolulu! Deep shade to dappled sun. Sow now (October Northern hemisphere) and always keep warm. Evergreen foliage. Water less in winter. Flowers in Spring.
Also see Hannelore Goos' website for more information on culture.
Neomarica caerulea (Ker Gawl.) Sprague syn. Trimezia coerulea (G.Lodd.) Ravenna
Neomarica candida (Hassl.) Sprague syn. Trimezia candida (Hassl.) Ravenna
Neomarica gracilis (Herb.) Sprague syn. Trimezia gracilis (Herb.) Christenh. & Byng
Neomarica guttata in 2025 does not appear in major data bases or IPNI as a published name. See Trimezia spp.
Neomarica longifolia (Link & Otto) Sprague syn. Trimezia longifolia (Link & Otto) Christenh. & Byng
Neomarica northiana (Schneev.) Sprague syn. Trimezia northiana (Schneev.) Ravenna
Neomarica sp. see Trimezia spp.