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 marginata, commonly known as Breede Valley Freesia, is a critically endangered South African endemic species found in the Breede River Valley between Worcester and Robertson in the Western Cape Province. This is a rare, range-restricted species. It occurs in open succulent karoo shrubland, in washes on sandstone-shale transitions. Growing from 4 to 10 cm, plants are typically low growing with prostrate leaves and flowers. Flowering takes place in early winter, May to June. Flowers are white, flushed purple on the back with the base of the lower tepals marked yellow orange and usually with a dark midline and are strongly violet scented.