Iris hartwegii |
Iris pallida |
|
---|---|---|
Hartweg's iris, rainbow iris, Sierra iris |
sweet 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. |
branching, forming extensive clumps, 1.5–2 cm diam., smooth except for narrow leaf scars that completely encircle rhizome. |
Stems | simple, solid, 0.5–3 dm. |
1–3-branched, 6–10 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. |
erect to spreading, blade green (some forms with white or yellow longitudinal stripes), ensiform, 3–6 dm × 3–4 cm, very glaucous, smooth. |
Inflorescences/ |
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. |
with terminal unit 3-flowered, branch units 2–3-flowered; distal branches subtended by scarious bracts, lower one to 15 cm, herbaceous, green; spathes completely silvery white, 2–3.5 cm, 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. |
often very fragrant; perianth light blue-violet to mauve-purple, one form with blue pigment limited as stipples or stitches along margin and/or along veins, with ground color white on both petals and sepals; floral tube 1–1.3 cm; sepals slightly reflexed, obovate, 7.8–8.3 × 5–5.3 cm, with wedge-shaped claw marked with brown veins, beard yellow with white tips; petals blue-violet, in some forms lighter than sepals, with some brown veining at base and on claw, obovate, 8 × 5 cm; ovary trigonal, 6-grooved, 1–1.5 cm; style violet, fading paler along margins, keeled along midrib, 2–2.4 × 1 cm, crests rounded, 1.4 cm, apex acute; stigmas rounded, margins entire; pedicel very short, 2–3 mm. |
Capsules | oblong-oval, 3-angled, tapering abruptly at either end, 2–3 cm. |
borne on ends of stems and branches, oblong, trigonal, 6-grooved, 4–5 × 1.5–2 cm. |
Seeds | brown, irregularly D-shaped, wrinkled. |
in 2 rows per locule, dark brown, compressed, cubical, wrinkled. |
2n | = 40. |
= 24. |
Iris hartwegii |
Iris pallida |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jun. | Flowering Apr–mid Jun. |
Habitat | Yellow-pine forests on sunny or partially shaded slopes | Widely cultivated and often persisting around old dwellings |
Distribution |
CA
|
CA; GA; IN; MO; Europe [Introduced in North America] |
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.) |
Iris pallida is considered to be one of the parents of I. germanica, to which it contributed blue pigment (delphinin) as well as the recessive white allele responsible for white-flowered forms. It also contributed the recessive distribution-pattern allele that limits the blue pigment to veins and to stipples or larger dots along the margins of the petals and sepals, the plicata pattern so popular in the garden today. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 385. | FNA vol. 26, p. 376. |
Parent taxa | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Limniris > sect. Limniris > ser. Californicae | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Iris |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | I. hartwegii subsp. australis, I. hartwegii var. australis, I. hartwegii subsp. columbiana, I. hartwegii subsp. pinetorum, I. pinetorum | |
Name authority | Baker: Gard. Chron., n. s. 6: 323. (1876) | Lamarck: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 3: 294. (1789) |
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