Species
+

Tigridia pavonia (L.f.) Redouté

Maravilla, Mexican shellflower, peacock-flower, tiger-flower

Climate known 55 photographs Bulb, tuber or caudex
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Tigridia pavonia is a species of flowering plant in the iris family Iridaceae. Common names include jockey's cap lily, Mexican shellflower, peacock flower, jaguar flower, tiger iris, and tiger flower. The Aztecs of Mexico called the flower ocēlōxōchitl meaning "jaguar flower". The Inga and Kamëntšá peoples of Colombia refer to this flower as watsimba. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Tigridia pavonia”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Tigridia

Tigridia, is a genus of bulbous or cormous flowering plants belonging to the family Iridaceae. With common names including peacock flowers, tiger flowers, jaguar flowers, or shell flowers, they have large showy flowers; and one species, Tigridia pavonia, is often cultivated for this. The approximately 60 species in this family grow in the Americas, from Mexico down to Chile.

Text from Wikipedia, “Tigridia”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Iridaceae
Described by
(L.f.) Redouté
Native to
Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf +6
Wild records
913 in range· 82 open

At a glance

Warmest month
24°C
May, mean day; nights 11 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1102mm/yr
7 wet months · peak Jul 225 mm (CHELSA)
Light
30–45DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Grouped as a bulb, tuber or caudex by Iridaceae, which is usually but not always one kind of plant (archetype table). Rain rule: a summer growing season, June to September in the northern hemisphere (June to September at the habitat, northern). Habitat rain 1102 mm a year, wettest July at 225 mm, driest December at 11 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 30 to 45 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 0.9 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Beatonia grandiflora (Cav.) Klatt; Beatonia lutea (Link, Klotzsch & Otto) Klatt; Ferraria pavonia L.f.; Ferraria tigridia Sims; Marica tigridia (Sims) Lehm. and 15 more.

Cultivation

Grouped as a bulb, tuber or caudex by Iridaceae, which is usually but not always one kind of plant (archetype table). The table holds no figure for this group, which spans too much for one minimum; the cold floor is the habitat's alone, and no prose comes from the table.

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, June to September in the northern hemisphere (June to September at the habitat, northern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (828 mm of 1102 mm) falls in June to September, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 17.1 °C against a yearly mean of 15.5 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: December to March.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1102 mm a year, wettest July at 225 mm, driest December at 11 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1102 mm a year at the habitat, 828 mm of it June to September. Wettest month July at 225 mm, driest December at 11 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 682 mm to 1897 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 30 to 45 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 30 to 45 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 23, the highest 90th-percentile month 50).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 0.9 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 0.9 °C, the absolute minimum -3.7 °C, about 2 frost nights a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 31.4 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 6.0 °C in January (across the envelope cells 1.2 °C to 11.1 °C), warmest day 23.6 °C in May (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 0.9 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 50 to 67% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 19 °C in Jan to 24 °C in May; mean night from 6 °C in Jan to 12 °C in Jun. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 1102 mm of rain a year, most in Jul. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 405 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was -3.7 °C and the 99th-percentile day 31.4 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.-10°10°20°30°40°frost31.4° 99th-percentile day (undated)-3.7° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400mm rainDLI 30–45RH 50–67 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 405 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C19 / 15–2320 / 16–2422 / 19–2624 / 21–2824 / 21–2822 / 19–2721 / 18–2521 / 19–2521 / 18–2420 / 18–2420 / 16–2319 / 15–23
Night °C6 / 1–117 / 2–128 / 3–1310 / 6–1511 / 8–1612 / 9–1712 / 9–1612 / 9–1612 / 9–1610 / 7–158 / 4–137 / 2–12
Rain mm19 / 7–5316 / 10–4416 / 7–4132 / 11–6973 / 19–163193 / 97–331225 / 126–343213 / 122–321197 / 111–36485 / 49–19022 / 12–7211 / 6–55
DLI32 / 25–3537 / 30–4043 / 35–4545 / 39–4843 / 39–5038 / 32–4337 / 33–4036 / 33–4033 / 29–3632 / 29–3532 / 26–3430 / 23–33
RH %54 / 50–6552 / 48–6450 / 46–6251 / 44–6256 / 45–6664 / 54–6965 / 60–7166 / 60–7067 / 60–7163 / 54–7058 / 51–6755 / 50–66

Each figure is the median across the 405 grid cells holding the 860 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1413:1632 (19.325, -98.375). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -3.7 °C, 1st-percentile night 0.9 °C, 99th-percentile day 31.4 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 405 distinct grid cells holding the 860 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1413:1632 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 19.50_-98.125, lapse-corrected -264 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 2253 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeMexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras· introduced: Great Britain, Madeira, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Kew's description“bulbous geophyte” · “subtropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker19.315, -99.187 · in the densest population, 464 records (51% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 913 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 82 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker in the same place. 228 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 53 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 913 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Tigridia pavoniaTigridia pavoniaTigridia pavoniaTigridia pavoniaTigridia pavoniaTigridia pavoniaTigridia pavoniaTigridia pavonia

Photographs: (c) alan_lagos, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) (3); (c) Sue Carnahan, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3); (c) Isabel, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Tigridia pavonia, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Mutagenesis in the improvement of ornamental plants
Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Selene Hernández-Muñoz, Martha Elena Pedraza‐Santos, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo (2019) · Revista Chapingo Serie Horticultura
Are floral traits good predictors of effective pollinators? A test of pollination syndromes
Samantha Maite de los Santos‐Gómez, Dulce María Figueroa‐Castro, Carlos Castañeda‐Posadas (2021) · Ecological Research
Morphological description of nine botanical varieties of Tigridia pavonia (L.F.) Ker. Gawl.
L. Vazquez Garcia, A.A. Przybyla, Eulogio de la Cruz Torres, H. Torres Navarro (2001)
In vitro regeneration and genetic fidelity of Tigridia pavonia (L.f.) DC.
José Luis Piña-Escutia, Luis Miguel Vázquez-García, Amaury M. Arzate-Fernández (2010) · Americanae (AECID Library)
Cytology of Some Members of the Family Iridaceae
Arun Kumar Sharma, Archana Sharma (1961) · CYTOLOGIA
Caracterización morfológica y molecular de nueve variedades botánicas de Tigridia pavonia (L.f.) DC
José Luis Piña-Escutia, César Vences-Contreras, MG Gutiérrez-Martínez, Luis Miguel Vázquez-García (2010) · Americanae (AECID Library)
Karyotype analysis and physical mapping of the 5S and 45S rDNA genes in Tigridia pavonia var. Dulce (Iridaceae)
Hugo Abelardo Arroyo-Martínez, Amaury M. Arzate-Fernández, R. Barba‐González, José Luis Piña-Escutia (2017) · Caryologia
Variety discrimination of Tigridia pavonia (L.f.) DC. assesed by different length RAPD primers
José Luis Piña-Escutia, Luis Miguel Vázquez-García, Amaury M. Arzate-Fernández (2010) · Electronic Journal of Biotechnology
CARACTERIZACIÓN ISOENZIMÁTICA DE NUEVE VARIEDADES BOTÁNICAS DE Tigridia pavonia (L. f.) DC
Amaury M. Arzate-Fernández, Alejandra Hoyos-Basurto, Luis Miguel Vázquez-García, Ma. de Guadalupe Gutiérrez-Martínez (2008) · Americanae (AECID Library)
Turnip Mosaic Virus, the Cause of a Mosaic Disease ofTigridia Pavonia(Iridaceae)
A. A. Brunt (1976) · Journal of Horticultural Science
Micropropagation of Tigridia pavonia (L.f) DC-a potential floricultural plant from twin scale explants
Lekha Kumar, Sincy Joseph, Narmatha Bai (2012) · Asian Pacific Journal of Reproduction
In vitro regeneration and genetic fidelity of Tigridia pavonia (L.f.) DC.
Amaury M. Arzate-Fernández, José Luis Piña-Escutia, Luis Miguel Vázquez-García (2010) · Electronic Journal of Biotechnology

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: filled 2026-09-20
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 27 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.