Iris fernaldii |
Iris verna |
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Fernald's iris |
dwarf violet iris |
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Rhizomes | many-branched, producing dense clumps, compact, slender, ca. 0.6 cm diam., base covered with remains of old leaves; roots fibrous. |
heterogeneous, whitish, cordlike portions 0.1–1.5 dm × 2–4 mm, enlarging to 6–8 mm diam., densely covered with brown, scalelike leaves, roots absent, or torulose with roots borne along entire rhizome. |
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Stems | simple, solid, 2–4 dm. |
simple, 5–15 cm. |
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Leaves | basal with blade gray-green, usually brilliantly colored basally, drying to unusual gray-green, veins fairly prominent, to 4 dm × 0.7–0.8 cm, often quite glaucous, margins not thickened; cauline 2–several, spreading, sheathing stem for about 1/2 length, foliaceous, blade not inflated. |
basal with blade light green, ensiform, 0.3–1.5 dm × 0.3–1.3 cm, enlarging to 3.5 dm, glaucous; cauline 5–9, sheathing, imbricate, blade light green, obovate, 1.3–5 cm, increasing in length, proximal shortest, membranous, apex acute. |
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Inflorescence units | 2-flowered; spathes opposite, connivent, often flushed red basally, broadly lanceolate, 5–9 cm × 6–11 mm, subequal. |
1–2-flowered; spathes divergent, exposing floral tube, green, lanceolate, 2–2.5 cm, apex acuminate. |
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Flowers | perianth pale creamy yellow with gold or gray veins; floral tube funnelform, 3–6.2 cm, spreading apically to form wide throat; sepals horizontally spreading, claw with deep yellow median line, oblanceolate to spatulate, 4.5–7 × 1–2 cm, base gradually attenuate into broad claw; petals narrowly oblanceolate, 4.3–6 × 0.6–1.4 cm, base gradually attenuate into narrow claw; ovary elliptical, nearly circular in cross section, 1.5–2.3 cm; style 2.2–3 cm, crests divergent, linear to narrowly oblong, 1–1.7 cm; stigmas triangular, margins entire; pedicel 0.9–2.2 cm at anthesis. |
floral tube pale violet, filiform, 2.5–6.5 cm, expanding somewhat distally to 2.5–4 cm diam.; sepals widely spreading, blue to violet with yellow or orange longitudinal papillose band at base of blade, obovate, 2–6 × 0.8–2 cm, base gradually attenuate into claw, not crested; petals erect, arching inward at tip, spatulate, 2–7 × 1–2 cm, base abruptly attenuate into claw; ovary linear, to 1.3 cm; styles pale violet, 2.5–4 cm, crests linear-acute, narrow, 0.7 cm; stigmas rounded, margins entire; pedicel 1–3 cm, increasing to 25 cm as capsule matures. |
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Capsules | oblong, roundly trigonal, distinctly beaked, 2.5–3.5 cm. |
3-angled with single ridge at each angle, almost hidden in bases of spathes, 1–3.2 × 0.8–1.5 cm, tapering into beak consisting of dried remnant of floral tube. |
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Seeds | dark brown, wrinkled. |
dark brown, ribbed, 2.8–3.2 mm, lustrous, with small, fleshy aril basally. |
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2n | = 40. |
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Iris fernaldii |
Iris verna |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jul. | |||||
Habitat | Mixed evergreen forest | |||||
Distribution |
CA
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se United States
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Discussion | Iris fernaldii hybridizes with I. douglasiana, I. innominata, and I. macrosiphon. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 387. | FNA vol. 26, p. 379. | ||||
Parent taxa | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Limniris > sect. Limniris > ser. Californicae | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Limniris > sect. Limniris > ser. Vernae | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Neubeckia verna | |||||
Name authority | R. C. Foster: Iridis Sp. Nov., 1. (1938) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 39. (1753) | ||||
Web links |