Iris macrosiphon |
Iris pallida |
|
---|---|---|
bowltube iris, ground iris |
sweet iris |
|
Rhizomes | many-branched, forming tufts, with fibrous remains of old leaves at nodes, slender, 0.6–0.8 cm diam.; roots few, fibrous. |
branching, forming extensive clumps, 1.5–2 cm diam., smooth except for narrow leaf scars that completely encircle rhizome. |
Stems | simple, solid, almost absent or to 2.5 dm. |
1–3-branched, 6–10 dm. |
Leaves | basal longer than stem, blade light green, finely veined, narrowly linear, 3–4 dm × 0.4–0.6 cm, glaucous, margins not thickened, apex acute; cauline 1–2, spreading, sheathing for about 1/2 length, foliaceous, blade not inflated, 0.7–1 dm. |
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-flowered; spathes nearly opposite, connivent, linear-lanceolate, 4–9.5 cm × 4–6 mm, subequal or outer longer. |
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 indigo, purple, lavender, white, cream, or yellow; floral tube linear, gradually dilating apically, 6 cm; sepals usually with fine, dark veins basally, becoming coarser on claw, oblanceolate or obovate, 3.9–7 × 2 cm, base abruptly attenuate into claw; petals oblanceolate, 3.5–6 × 0.5–1.6 cm, base gradually attenuate; ovary ovoid, ca. 1 cm; style 2–3.5 cm, crests overlapping, reflexed, semiovate, 0.8–1.8 cm, margins denticulate; stigmas triangular, margins entire; pedicel 1.5–2 cm. |
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 to ovoid, somewhat 3-angled in cross section, 2.5–3 cm. |
borne on ends of stems and branches, oblong, trigonal, 6-grooved, 4–5 × 1.5–2 cm. |
Seeds | dark brown, angular, finely wrinkled. |
in 2 rows per locule, dark brown, compressed, cubical, wrinkled. |
2n | = 40. |
= 24. |
Iris macrosiphon |
Iris pallida |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Apr–mid Jun. |
Habitat | Sunny hillsides, meadows, roadsides | Widely cultivated and often persisting around old dwellings |
Distribution |
CA
|
CA; GA; IN; MO; Europe [Introduced in North America] |
Discussion | Iris macrosiphon hybridizes with I. chrysophylla, I. douglasiana, I. fernaldii, I. hartwegii, I. innominata, I. munzii, I. purdyi, I. tenax, and I. tenuissima. The invalid name “Iris californica” Leichtlin has sometimes been applied to a portion of this species. (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. 384. | FNA vol. 26, p. 376. |
Parent taxa | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Limniris > sect. Limniris > ser. Californicae | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Iris |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | I. elata | |
Name authority | Torrey: Pacif. Railr. Rep. 4(5): 144. (1857) | Lamarck: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 3: 294. (1789) |
Web links |