Iris fulva |
Iris hookeri |
|
---|---|---|
copper iris |
beach-head iris, iris de Hooker |
|
Rhizomes | compact, greenish brown or sometimes red-tinged, many-branched, with ringlike scars of old leaves, 1.5–2 cm diam. |
many-branched, forming dense, cespitose clumps with many crowded fans with persistent old leaf bases, 3–5 × 1.3–1.5 cm. |
Stems | simple or sometimes 1–2-branched, solid, 3–9 dm. |
several to many from a single clump of fans, simple, 0.5–6 dm. |
Leaves | basal arching distally, blade bright green, lightly ribbed, linear-ensiform, 6–10 dm × 1.5–2.5 cm; cauline subtending branches, blade 4.5–6 dm. |
basal erect or strongly ascending, blade 1–5.2 dm × 0.5–1.4 cm; cauline 2–4, proximal 2–3 similar to basal leaves, distalmost leaf occasionally borne nearly midway on stem, clasping, blade bracteiform, lanceolate, 0.5–1.5 dm. |
Inflorescence units | 1–2-flowered; spathes unequal, outer green, 10–12 cm, herbaceous, inner 6–8 cm, partly scarious. |
1–2-flowered; spathes herbaceous, lanceolate to oblong-ovate, 2.5–6 cm, firm, outer spathe apex acute, inner similar or scarious at apex. |
Flowers | perianth copper colored or reddish brown (yellow in forma fulvaurea); floral tube hollow to ovary, 2–2.5 cm; sepals widely spreading or arching downward, obovate, with 1–3 prominent veins, 4.5–5.5 cm, glabrous, often with lighter yellow basal signal; petals spreading or declining with sepals, 4–5 × 1.5–2 cm, base gradually attenuate, apex deeply emarginate; ovary green, hexagonal, 1.5–1.7 cm; style convex, not keeled, 1.8–2 cm, crests reflexed, rounded-triangular, margins shallowly toothed; stigmas 2-lobed, lobes pointed, margins entire; pedicel 2–4 cm. |
perianth deep to pale blue or blue-violet; floral tube 0.5–0.75 cm; sepals broadly rounded, 2.5–4 cm wide, base strongly attenuate to claw, signal diffuse white basal patch; petals much reduced to insignificant, involute or tubular rudiments, 1–2 cm, apex with short bristle, mostly hidden by sepal bases; ovary green or flushed purple, acutely trigonal; style white with purple keel, 2–5 cm, crests overlapping, 2-lobed, subquadrate, margins coarsely serrate; stigmas rounded-triangular, margins entire; pedicel 2.5–4 cm. |
Capsules | remaining green even after seeds mature, oblong-elliptic, hexagonal in cross section, with 6 equally spaced ribs, short beak, 4.5–8 × 2.5 cm. |
thin walled, trigonal, with rounded angles and grooved sides, 2–4 cm, apex blunt. |
Seeds | in 2 rows per locule, irregular, flattened, 10–15 mm, corky. |
in 2 rows per locule, dark brown with prominent white raphe, compressed-pyriform, 4–6 mm, lustrous. |
2n | = 42. |
= 38. |
Iris fulva |
Iris hookeri |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Jun–Jul. |
Habitat | Shallow water or low wet areas | Grassy headlands, upper borders of beaches, dunes, and other coast formations, within reach of ocean spray |
Distribution |
AR; IL; KY; LA; MO; MS; TN
|
ME; NB; NL; NS; PE; QC |
Discussion | Iris fulva hybridizes with I. brevicaulis to produce I. ×fulvala Dykes, which has reddish purple sepals; with I. giganticaerulea to produce I. ×vinicolor Small; and with I. savannarum to produce I. ×cacique (J. Berry) N. C. Henderson. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Some authors still treat this taxon as Iris setosa var. canadensis, but others believe that it merits recognition as a separate species. I have seen I. hookeri flowering in its native habitat in both Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and have examined dozens of herbarium specimens of both it and I. setosa, from which it is clearly distinct. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 392. | FNA vol. 26, p. 381. |
Parent taxa | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Limniris > sect. Limniris > ser. Hexagonae | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Limniris > sect. Limniris > ser. Tripetalae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | I. fulvaurea | I. canadensis, I. setosa var. canadensis, I. setosa subsp. pygmaea |
Name authority | Ker Gawler: Bot. Mag. 36: plate 1496. (1812) | Penny ex G. Don: in J. C. Loudon, Hort. Brit. ed. 2, 591. (1832) |
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