Iris giganticaerulea |
Iris prismatica |
|
---|---|---|
giant blue iris |
slender blue iris |
|
Rhizomes | green, extensively branched, forming large clumps, 2–4 cm diam., with pale leaf scars. |
superficial or only slightly buried in peaty soil, cordlike portions usually 1-branched, 40 cm × 2–5 mm, bearing scalelike leaves at nodes; nodal roots absent. |
Stems | 2–3-branched, solid, 10–15(–20+) dm. |
simple or 1–2-branched, 3–8 dm. |
Leaves | basal 4–6, erect, blade bright green, ensiform, 10–13 dm × 2–3 cm, apex slightly curved; cauline with blade foliaceous, appearing as elongated spathe, 5–6.5 dm × 2–3 cm, not exceeding flowers. |
basal with blade slightly ribbed, 3–6 dm × 0.2–0.5 cm; cauline 1–4, erect. |
Inflorescence units | 2–3-flowered, branch units 1–2-flowered; spathes tightly enclosing ovary and pedicel, 15–20 cm, subequal; outer narrowly lanceolate, keeled, margins pale, narrow, inner margins translucent, broad, scarious. |
1–3-flowered, branch units 1–2-flowered; spathes pale brown, narrowly lanceolate, 2–4 cm, scarious or partially membranaceous. |
Flowers | perianth blue or blue-purple; floral tube tubular-prismatic, 9-ribbed and -grooved, 4–5 cm; sepals blue or blue-purple with white streaks surrounding signal, oval to orbicular-oval, 9.5–11 × 4–5 cm, base abruptly attenuate into claw, apex obtusely angled, signal with raised, yellow, pubescent central ridge, claw green, striate, 4–4.5 × 1–1.2 cm; petals erect or spreading-erect, spatulate, 7–8.5 × 2–3 cm, base cuneate, apex emarginate; ovary bluntly 6-angled, 4–4.5 cm; style blue-violet, keeled, 3.5–4 cm, raised above sepals, crests recurved, 1.5–2 cm, margins sharply and irregularly serrate; stigmas 2-lobed with 2 triangular teeth; pedicel columnar, 3.5–5 cm. |
perianth pale blue or blue-violet; floral tube 0.2–0.3 cm; sepals pale violet, veined deep violet basally, ovate, 4–5 × 1.3–2 cm, base abruptly attenuate; petals lavender, oblanceolate, 3.5–4.5 × 0.7–1.5 cm; ovary trigonal, sharply angled; style arched, narrow, 2–3 cm, crests divergent, quadrate, 0.5–0.7 cm, margins serrate; stigmas sharply triangular; pedicel somewhat flattened, 3–7 cm, exserted from spathe. |
Capsules | drooping, bright green, ellipsoid, hexagonal in cross section, with 6 broad, rounded lobes, 8–10 × 3 cm, indehiscent; after anthesis, flower stem elongates, arching downward to push capsule into water, where walls are broken down and as funiculus is broken, seed rises to surface. |
sharply 3-angled, almost winged, 3–4 × 1.2–1.4 cm, concave faces 6–14 mm wide. |
Seeds | in 2 rows per locule, brown, D-shaped, 8–10 mm wide, very corky. |
in 1 row per locule, buff to dark brown, pyriform, with convex sides, 3–4 mm, smooth. |
2n | = 44. |
= 42. |
Iris giganticaerulea |
Iris prismatica |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Apr. | Flowering Apr–Jul. |
Habitat | Shallow water or very wet roadside ditches | Swampy, peaty soil |
Distribution |
AL; LA; MS
|
AL; CT; DE; GA; KY; MA; MD; ME; NC; NH; NJ; NY; RI; SC; TN; VA
|
Source | FNA vol. 26. | FNA vol. 26, p. 395. |
Parent taxa | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Limniris > sect. Limniris > ser. Hexagonae | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Limniris > sect. Limniris > ser. Prisimaticae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | I. elephantina, I. hexagona var. giganticaerulea, I. miraculosa | |
Name authority | Small: Addisonia 14: 5, plate 451. (1929) | Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 30. (1814) |
Web links |