The genus Ixia consists of a number of cormous plants native to South Africa from the Iridaceae family and Ixioideae subfamily. Some of them are known as the corn lily. Some distinctive traits include: sword-like leaves, and long wiry stems with star-shaped flowers. It usually prefers well-drained soil. They have a specific but not very intense fragrance of vegetables. That is why it is often visited by many insects such as bees.

Ixia scillaris grows on stony granite, sandstone and clay flats in the northwest and southwest Cape. It has pink, magenta, mauve or white flowers usually with a small greenish or pink center and exserted stamens with split anthers.