Iris purdyi |
Iris hookeri |
|
---|---|---|
Purdy's iris, redwood iris |
beach-head iris, iris de Hooker |
|
Rhizomes | much branched, forming dense clumps, dark red-brown, very slender, 0.3–0.6 cm diam., covered with remains of old leaves; roots fibrous. |
many-branched, forming dense, cespitose clumps with many crowded fans with persistent old leaf bases, 3–5 × 1.3–1.5 cm. |
Stems | simple, solid, 1.5–2.5 dm. |
several to many from a single clump of fans, simple, 0.5–6 dm. |
Leaves | basal few, laxly spreading, longer than stem, blade bright dark green adaxially, flushed pink basally, veins subprominent, linear, 2.8–4.8 dm × 0.5–0.8 cm, rather glaucous abaxially, margins thickened, apex acute; cauline imbricated, sheathing, free only at tips, bracteiform, blade green edged with pink, strongly striate, inflated, apex acuminate. |
basal erect or strongly ascending, blade 1–5.2 dm × 0.5–1.4 cm; cauline 2–4, proximal 2–3 similar to basal leaves, distalmost leaf occasionally borne nearly midway on stem, clasping, blade bracteiform, lanceolate, 0.5–1.5 dm. |
Inflorescence units | 1–2-flowered; spathes green with prominent red margins, inflated, broadly lanceolate-ovate, 5.6–7 cm × 8–13 mm, unequal, outer shorter than inner, herbaceous, apex acuminate. |
1–2-flowered; spathes herbaceous, lanceolate to oblong-ovate, 2.5–6 cm, firm, outer spathe apex acute, inner similar or scarious at apex. |
Flowers | perianth pale creamy yellow flushed with pale lavender, with conspicuous brownish purple lines; floral tube linear, 3–5 cm, somewhat dilated apically; sepals widely spreading, veined and dotted with deeper purple on claw and limb, oblanceolate, 5.5–8.4 × 1.6–2.7 cm; petals spreading, lanceolate, 5–7 × 1–2 cm, margins sinuate; ovary trigonal in cross section with groove along each angle, narrow, 1–1.5 cm; style 2–3 cm, crests narrowly semiovate or nearly linear, laciniate, 1–2 cm; stigmas rounded-truncate to 2-lobed, never triangular, margins minutely denticulate; pedicel 1–2 cm. |
perianth deep to pale blue or blue-violet; floral tube 0.5–0.75 cm; sepals broadly rounded, 2.5–4 cm wide, base strongly attenuate to claw, signal diffuse white basal patch; petals much reduced to insignificant, involute or tubular rudiments, 1–2 cm, apex with short bristle, mostly hidden by sepal bases; ovary green or flushed purple, acutely trigonal; style white with purple keel, 2–5 cm, crests overlapping, 2-lobed, subquadrate, margins coarsely serrate; stigmas rounded-triangular, margins entire; pedicel 2.5–4 cm. |
Capsules | oblong-ovoid, trigonal, somewhat beaked, 2–3 cm. |
thin walled, trigonal, with rounded angles and grooved sides, 2–4 cm, apex blunt. |
Seeds | light brown, D-shaped, oblong-ovoid, thick, finely wrinkled. |
in 2 rows per locule, dark brown with prominent white raphe, compressed-pyriform, 4–6 mm, lustrous. |
2n | = 40. |
= 38. |
Iris purdyi |
Iris hookeri |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jul. | Flowering Jun–Jul. |
Habitat | Open woods of redwood region | Grassy headlands, upper borders of beaches, dunes, and other coast formations, within reach of ocean spray |
Distribution |
CA
|
ME; NB; NL; NS; PE; QC |
Discussion | Iris purdyi hybridizes with I. bracteata, I. chrysophylla, I. douglasiana, I. innominata, I. macrosiphon, I. tenax, and I. tenuissima. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Some authors still treat this taxon as Iris setosa var. canadensis, but others believe that it merits recognition as a separate species. I have seen I. hookeri flowering in its native habitat in both Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and have examined dozens of herbarium specimens of both it and I. setosa, from which it is clearly distinct. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 385. | FNA vol. 26, p. 381. |
Parent taxa | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Limniris > sect. Limniris > ser. Californicae | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Limniris > sect. Limniris > ser. Tripetalae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | I. lansdaleana, I. macrosiphon var. purdyi | I. canadensis, I. setosa var. canadensis, I. setosa subsp. pygmaea |
Name authority | Eastwood: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 3, 1: 78, plate 7, fig. 2. (1897) | Penny ex G. Don: in J. C. Loudon, Hort. Brit. ed. 2, 591. (1832) |
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