Iris pseudacorus |
Iris giganticaerulea |
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fleur-de-lis, horticultural iris, iris jaune, pale-yellow iris, yellow flag, yellow iris, yellow water iris |
giant blue iris |
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Rhizomes | pink, freely branching, producing extensive clumps, 2–3 cm diam., with fibrous remains of old leaves; roots fleshy. |
green, extensively branched, forming large clumps, 2–4 cm diam., with pale leaf scars. |
Stems | usually 1-branched, solid, 7–15 dm. |
2–3-branched, solid, 10–15(–20+) dm. |
Leaves | 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. |
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 | 4–12-flowered; spathes green with brown margins, outer spathe strongly keeled, inner without keel, 6–9 cm, subequal, margins not scarious. |
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 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. |
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 | prismatic to oblong-ovoid, obscurely 3-angled with obvious groove at each angle, 3.5–6 cm, beak 5 mm. |
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 | D-shaped, flattened, 6–7 mm, corky, lustrous. |
in 2 rows per locule, brown, D-shaped, 8–10 mm wide, very corky. |
2n | = 34. |
= 44. |
Iris pseudacorus |
Iris giganticaerulea |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Mar–Apr. |
Habitat | Swamps, wet shores of rivers and lakes | Shallow water or very wet roadside ditches |
Distribution |
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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AL; LA; MS
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Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 390. | FNA vol. 26. |
Parent taxa | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Limniris > sect. Limniris > ser. Laevigatae | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Limniris > sect. Limniris > ser. Hexagonae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | I. elephantina, I. hexagona var. giganticaerulea, I. miraculosa | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 38. (1753) | Small: Addisonia 14: 5, plate 451. (1929) |
Web links |
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