Iris hexagona |
Iris pseudacorus |
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Carolina iris, Dixie iris |
fleur-de-lis, horticultural iris, iris jaune, pale-yellow iris, yellow flag, yellow iris, yellow water iris |
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Rhizomes | greenish with brown leaf scars, branching from older buds quite some distance proximal to apex, forming widely scattered colonies, 2–2.5 cm diam. |
pink, freely branching, producing extensive clumps, 2–3 cm diam., with fibrous remains of old leaves; roots fleshy. |
Stems | 1–2-branched, solid, 3–9 dm. |
usually 1-branched, solid, 7–15 dm. |
Leaves | basal stiffly erect, blade yellow-green, lightly ribbed, 8–9 dm × 2–3 cm; cauline 1–2, foliaceous, blade 1.2–2 dm, exceeding subtended flower. |
basal deciduous, at first erect, then recurved, blade dark green, with prominent median thickening, 4–10 dm × 2–3 cm, slightly glaucous basally; cauline equaling inflorescence unit. |
Inflorescence units | 1–2-flowered, branch units 1-flowered; spathes lanceolate, subequal or unequal, apex acute; outer foliaceous, 15–20 cm, usually exceeding flower; inner 8–10 cm, herbaceous, with scarious margins. |
4–12-flowered; spathes green with brown margins, outer spathe strongly keeled, inner without keel, 6–9 cm, subequal, margins not scarious. |
Flowers | perianth blue to violet, rarely white; floral tube funnelform, grooved in line with grooves of ovary, 2–3 cm; sepals spreading horizontally, obovate to oval, 8–8.5 × 4 cm, claw greenish with prominent yellow midrib which is pubescent on each side at base, apex rounded; petals erect or spreading-erect, oblanceolate to spatulate, 7–9 × 2 cm, claw veined with green; ovary roundly triangular in cross section, with wide grooves at angles and concave sides, 2–3 cm; style convex laterally from central reddish ridge, 3.5–5 cm, narrower than claw of sepals, crests erect, overlapping, semiovate to triangular, 1–5 cm, margins coarsely toothed; stigmas 2-lobed, lobes triangular or rounded-deltoid, margins entire; pedicel 2.5–3.5 cm. |
perianth bright yellow; floral tube 0.6–0.8 cm, with no constriction into ovary; sepals bright yellow or cream colored, lanceolate to ovate or suborbiculate, 5–7.5 × 3–4 cm, base abruptly attenuate, claw ca. 1/2 length of limb, signal a darker yellow basal patch limited by short, brown lines; petals without veining, lanceolate to spatulate, 2–3 cm; ovary triangular in cross section with concave sides and narrow groove at each angle, 1.5 cm; style keeled, 3–4 cm, crests spreading, 1–1.2 cm, laciniate at apex; stigmas rounded with prominent tongue; pedicel 2.5–7 cm. |
Capsules | hexagonal in cross section, with 3 alternate sides plane, others with 2 rounded ridges with shallow groove between them, 2.5–3.5 × 2–2.5 cm. |
prismatic to oblong-ovoid, obscurely 3-angled with obvious groove at each angle, 3.5–6 cm, beak 5 mm. |
Seeds | in 2 rows per locule, light brown, D-shaped or irregularly rounded, 4–6 mm, corky. |
D-shaped, flattened, 6–7 mm, corky, lustrous. |
2n | = 44. |
= 34. |
Iris hexagona |
Iris pseudacorus |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–May. | Flowering Apr–Jun. |
Habitat | Margins of wetlands, low roadsides | Swamps, wet shores of rivers and lakes |
Distribution |
FL; SC
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AL; AR; CA; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; ME; MS; NC; NH; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; WA; WV; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; Eurasia; n Africa [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion | Iris hexagona is one of the rarest of all our native irises. We had seen herbarium specimens from seven localities in five counties of South Carolina. In searching for living plants at each of these sites we found that six of the seven are now under the water of Lake Moultrie. After extensive searching, one small population has been located at the other site, in a state park at Charleston, which is being watched carefully by the rangers of the park. A good-sized population has since been found in Dixie County, Florida, north of the small town of Shamrock, and another in neighboring Taylor County. These two populations are in the drainage system of Georgia, which in turn is fed by some of the streams from South Carolina. So far, though, I. hexagona has not been found in Georgia. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 392. | FNA vol. 26, p. 390. |
Parent taxa | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Limniris > sect. Limniris > ser. Hexagonae | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Limniris > sect. Limniris > ser. Laevigatae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Walter: Fl. Carol., 66. (1788) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 38. (1753) |
Web links |
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