Freesia is a genus of herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, first described as a genus in 1866 by Christian Friedrich Ecklon (1886) and named after the German botanist and medical practitioner, Friedrich Freese (1795-1876). It is native to the eastern side of southern Africa, from Kenya south to South Africa, most species being found in Cape Provinces. Species of the former genus Anomatheca are now included in Freesia.

Freesia fucata is an early blooming fragrant species that is white flushed purple with yellow markings. It is a South African endemic species found on clay slopes in the Renosterveld in the southwest Cape.