Iris hexagona
Iris tenax
Carolina iris, Dixie iris
Oregon flag, Oregon iris, tough-leaf iris
greenish with brown leaf scars, branching from older buds quite some distance proximal to apex, forming widely scattered colonies, 2–2.5 cm diam.
many-branched, not creeping, forming dense clumps, slender, 0.3–0.8 cm diam.;
roots fibrous.
1–2-branched, solid, 3–9 dm.
simple, somewhat angular, solid, 1.5–2.7 dm.
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 somewhat lax, overtopping stem, blade light green, paling to pink or straw color basally, finely ribbed, linear-acute to linear, ensiform, 4.5 dm × 0.5 cm, margins not thickened;
cauline 1–3, sheathing for 1/2 length then spreading, foliaceous, blade linear-lanceolate, not inflated, narrow, reduced, to 15 cm.
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.
1–2-flowered;
spathes distant basally by 3 cm in some cases, keeled, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate-acuminate, 5–7 cm × 2–4 mm, unequal, outer longer than inner, herbaceous, margins scarious.
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 color variable, purple, pink, lavender, cream, yellow, or rarely white;
floral tube funnelform, 0.6–2 cm;
sepals veined with color of limb, obovate, 5.8–6 × 1.6–2 cm, base gradually attenuate into white claw with slight yellow ridge, apex emarginate to bluntly rounded;
petals same color as sepals, not prominently veined, lanceolate to oblanceolate, 5 × 1 cm;
ovary 1–2 cm, slightly wider distally, base very gradually attenuate;
style 2.2–3.2 cm, crests subquadrate, 8–12 mm, margins crenate or incised;
stigmas triangular, margins entire;
pedicel 1–5 cm, longer in second flower (when present) than in first.
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.
oblong, triangular in cross section, prominently ribbed, beaked, 3–5 cm.
in 2 rows per locule, light brown, D-shaped or irregularly rounded, 4–6 mm, corky.
brown, D-shaped to irregular, wrinkled.
= 44.
Iris hexagona
Iris tenax
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.)
Plants described as subsp. klamathensis differ from others of the species in having floral tubes 11–20 mm instead of 6–10 mm, style crests somewhat longer and narrower, and flower color and markings more like those of Iris bracteata or I. innominata. The latter species has an even longer floral tube, 15–30 mm, which could be evidence of introgression. Hybrids are known to occur in the area common to both species, in Douglas County, Oregon.
Iris tenax hybridizes with I. bracteata, I. chrysophylla, I. douglasiana, I. hartwegii, I. innominata, I. macrosiphon, I. purdyi, and I. tenuissima.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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USDA Plants Database
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