Iris douglasiana
Iris hexagona
Douglas' iris, mountain iris
Carolina iris, Dixie iris
freely branching, forming large colonies, slender, 0.8–0.9 cm diam., covered with remains of old leaves;
roots fibrous.
greenish with brown leaf scars, branching from older buds quite some distance proximal to apex, forming widely scattered colonies, 2–2.5 cm diam.
1–4-branched, solid, 1.5–7 dm.
1–2-branched, solid, 3–9 dm.
basal with blade yellow-green, occasionally darker green, sometimes flushed pink or red basally, prominently ribbed, linear, 4.5–10 dm × 2 cm, apex acute;
cauline 1–3, reduced.
basal stiffly erect, blade yellow-green, lightly ribbed, 8–9 dm × 2–3 cm;
cauline 1–2, foliaceous, blade 1.2–2 dm, exceeding subtended flower.
(2–)3-flowered, branch units 2–3-flowered;
spathes opposite or separated, divergent, green, sometimes flushed purple basally, lanceolate-acuminate, 6–12 cm × 7–12 mm.
1–2-flowered, branch units 1-flowered;
spathes lanceolate, subequal or unequal, apex acute;
outer foliaceous, 15–20 cm, usually exceeding flower;
inner 8–10 cm, herbaceous, with scarious margins.
perianth deep red-purple, lavender, gray-blue, cream, or white, with gold signal and blue or purple veins;
floral tube 1.5–2.8 cm, usually widening to bowl shape at base of flower;
sepals oblanceolate to obovate, 5–9 × 1.4–3 cm, base gradually attenuate, apex obtusely rounded;
petals oblanceolate, 4.5–7 × 0.9–1.8 cm, base attenuate to narrow claw;
ovary elliptic-oval, sharply triangular in cross section, 3–4 cm;
style 1.7–3.5 cm;
crests overlapping, subquadrate, 1–2 cm, margins coarsely toothed;
stigmas triangular;
pedicel 2–5 cm.
perianth blue to violet, rarely white;
floral tube funnelform, grooved in line with grooves of ovary, 2–3 cm;
sepals spreading horizontally, obovate to oval, 8–8.5 × 4 cm, claw greenish with prominent yellow midrib which is pubescent on each side at base, apex rounded;
petals erect or spreading-erect, oblanceolate to spatulate, 7–9 × 2 cm, claw veined with green;
ovary roundly triangular in cross section, with wide grooves at angles and concave sides, 2–3 cm;
style convex laterally from central reddish ridge, 3.5–5 cm, narrower than claw of sepals, crests erect, overlapping, semiovate to triangular, 1–5 cm, margins coarsely toothed;
stigmas 2-lobed, lobes triangular or rounded-deltoid, margins entire;
pedicel 2.5–3.5 cm.
sharply triangular in cross section with ridge at each angle, tapering at both ends, remnant of floral tube forming tip at apex, 2.5–5 cm.
hexagonal in cross section, with 3 alternate sides plane, others with 2 rounded ridges with shallow groove between them, 2.5–3.5 × 2–2.5 cm.
dark brown, pyriform, wrinkled.
in 2 rows per locule, light brown, D-shaped or irregularly rounded, 4–6 mm, corky.
= 40.
= 44.
Iris douglasiana
Iris hexagona
R. C. Foster (1937) named several varieties of Iris douglasiana, about which L. W. Lenz (1954) said, “This is a widespread and extremely variable species whose total variability is being increased due to introgressive hybridization between it and other species with which it has come into contact. Well marked and distinct geographic races cannot be detected; however, pronounced variations are to be found within a single population. For these reasons no attempt is made here to segregate taxa within such a polymorphic species.”
Iris douglasiana hybridizes with I. bracteata, I. chrysophylla, I. fernaldii, I. hartwegii, I. innominata, I. macrosiphon, I. munzii, I. purdyi, I. tenax, and I. tenuissima. The natural hybrid between I. douglasiana and I. innominata has been designated as Iris ×thompsonii R. C. Foster and the garden hybrid as Iris ×aureonympha E. H. English.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Iris hexagona is one of the rarest of all our native irises. We had seen herbarium specimens from seven localities in five counties of South Carolina. In searching for living plants at each of these sites we found that six of the seven are now under the water of Lake Moultrie. After extensive searching, one small population has been located at the other site, in a state park at Charleston, which is being watched carefully by the rangers of the park. A good-sized population has since been found in Dixie County, Florida, north of the small town of Shamrock, and another in neighboring Taylor County. These two populations are in the drainage system of Georgia, which in turn is fed by some of the streams from South Carolina. So far, though, I. hexagona has not been found in Georgia.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
