Iris hartwegii |
Iris giganticaerulea |
|
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Hartweg's iris, rainbow iris, Sierra iris |
giant blue iris |
|
Rhizomes | creeping, not producing dense clumps, covered with remains of old leaves, slender to moderately thick, 0.5–0.9 cm diam.; roots fibrous. |
green, extensively branched, forming large clumps, 2–4 cm diam., with pale leaf scars. |
Stems | simple, solid, 0.5–3 dm. |
2–3-branched, solid, 10–15(–20+) dm. |
Leaves | basal deciduous, blade pale green, not pink basally, 2–4.5 dm × 0.2–0.6(–1) cm, sometimes glaucous, margins not thickened; cauline usually 1–several, spreading, sheathing for about 1/2 length, foliaceous, blade not inflated. |
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. |
Inflorescence units | 1–2(–3)-flowered; spathes divergent, separated by 1.5–4 cm, linear to linear-lanceolate, unequal, outer 5–11 cm × 4–7 mm, inner 5–6 cm × 2–3 mm, herbaceous, apex acute. |
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. |
Flowers | perianth lavender, cream, or pale to deep yellow; floral tube funnelform, 0.5–1(–1.5) cm; sepals oblanceolate, 4–7 × 1.4–2 cm, base gradually attenuate; petals narrowly oblanceolate, 3.5–6 × 0.5–1.1 cm, widest at about 1/2 their length, base abruptly attenuate, claw 1–2 mm wide; ovary nearly cylindrical, 1–2 cm; style 1.6–3 cm, crests overlapping, obtusely angled, 0.5–1.1 cm; stigmas acutely triangular, margins entire; pedicel 0.5–2.5 cm at anthesis, lengthening to 3.5–7.5 cm at maturity. |
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. |
Capsules | oblong-oval, 3-angled, tapering abruptly at either end, 2–3 cm. |
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. |
Seeds | brown, irregularly D-shaped, wrinkled. |
in 2 rows per locule, brown, D-shaped, 8–10 mm wide, very corky. |
2n | = 40. |
= 44. |
Iris hartwegii |
Iris giganticaerulea |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jun. | Flowering Mar–Apr. |
Habitat | Yellow-pine forests on sunny or partially shaded slopes | Shallow water or very wet roadside ditches |
Distribution |
CA
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AL; LA; MS
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Discussion | Plants with pedicels 2.8–4.7 cm, and flowers light purple or bluish violet have been recognized as subsp. australis. Plants having a 3-flowered inflorescence unit, leaves about 1 cm wide, and pale yellow flowers with golden yellow veining have been called subsp. columbiana. Plants having both flowers open at the same time rather than consecutively, pedicels averaging only 1 cm, long narrow style arms and crests, and floral tubes 1.2–1.5 cm have been named subsp. pinetorum. Iris hartwegii hybridizes with I. douglasiana, I. innominata, I. macrosiphon, I. munzii, I. tenax, and I. tenuissima. It is known from Butte County to Kern County. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 385. | FNA vol. 26. |
Parent taxa | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Limniris > sect. Limniris > ser. Californicae | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Limniris > sect. Limniris > ser. Hexagonae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | I. hartwegii subsp. australis, I. hartwegii var. australis, I. hartwegii subsp. columbiana, I. hartwegii subsp. pinetorum, I. pinetorum | I. elephantina, I. hexagona var. giganticaerulea, I. miraculosa |
Name authority | Baker: Gard. Chron., n. s. 6: 323. (1876) | Small: Addisonia 14: 5, plate 451. (1929) |
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