Iris verna |
Iris sibirica |
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dwarf violet iris |
Siberian iris |
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Rhizomes | heterogeneous, whitish, cordlike portions 0.1–1.5 dm × 2–4 mm, enlarging to 6–8 mm diam., densely covered with brown, scalelike leaves, roots absent, or torulose with roots borne along entire rhizome. |
compact, freely branching, forming dense clumps, 0.9–1.2 cm diam., covered with remnants of old leaves. |
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Stems | simple, 5–15 cm. |
simple or 1–3-branched, hollow, 6–12 dm. |
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Leaves | basal with blade light green, ensiform, 0.3–1.5 dm × 0.3–1.3 cm, enlarging to 3.5 dm, glaucous; cauline 5–9, sheathing, imbricate, blade light green, obovate, 1.3–5 cm, increasing in length, proximal shortest, membranous, apex acute. |
dying back in winter, blade dark green, often tinged pink at base, 4–8 dm × 0.4–0.6 cm. |
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Inflorescence units | 1–2-flowered; spathes divergent, exposing floral tube, green, lanceolate, 2–2.5 cm, apex acuminate. |
3–5-flowered, lateral units 2–3-flowered; spathes brown, to 4 cm, narrow, papery, apex acute. |
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Flowers | floral tube pale violet, filiform, 2.5–6.5 cm, expanding somewhat distally to 2.5–4 cm diam.; sepals widely spreading, blue to violet with yellow or orange longitudinal papillose band at base of blade, obovate, 2–6 × 0.8–2 cm, base gradually attenuate into claw, not crested; petals erect, arching inward at tip, spatulate, 2–7 × 1–2 cm, base abruptly attenuate into claw; ovary linear, to 1.3 cm; styles pale violet, 2.5–4 cm, crests linear-acute, narrow, 0.7 cm; stigmas rounded, margins entire; pedicel 1–3 cm, increasing to 25 cm as capsule matures. |
perianth light to dark blue-violet to white; floral tube with indistinct ribs, circular, ca. 1 cm; sepals flaring or curving downward apically, widely orbiculate, 5–7 × 2–2.5 cm, base abruptly attenuate into claw with two narrow flanges basally, signal white, semicircular, with dark violet veins basally; petals erect, narrowly elliptic-obovate, 4.5–5.5 × 1.5–1.8 cm; ovary roundly triangular, spindle-shaped, 1.5–2 cm; style pale blue, bluntly keeled, 4–5 cm, crests overlapping, triangular, margins crenate; stigmas tonguelike projections, triangular; pedicel 1–15 cm, unequal, later flowers in each spathe with longer pedicel. |
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Capsules | 3-angled with single ridge at each angle, almost hidden in bases of spathes, 1–3.2 × 0.8–1.5 cm, tapering into beak consisting of dried remnant of floral tube. |
roundly triangular with low ridges at angles, 3–4.5 × 1–1.3 cm, smooth, apex with extremely short tip, opening only in upper 1/4–1/3 of capsule. |
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Seeds | dark brown, ribbed, 2.8–3.2 mm, lustrous, with small, fleshy aril basally. |
in 2 rows per locule, dark brown, D-shaped, flattened, 5 × 3 mm, slightly roughened by small, rounded protuberances. |
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2n | = 28. |
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Iris verna |
Iris sibirica |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Jul. | |||||
Habitat | Widely cultivated, found along roadsides | |||||
Distribution |
se United States
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CA; CT; MA; ME; NY; PA; VT; ON; expected elsewhere; Eurasia [Introduced in North America] |
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Discussion | Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Many forms of Iris sibirica have been cultivated widely across North America, where it is quite hardy and persistent. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 379. | FNA vol. 26, p. 382. | ||||
Parent taxa | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Limniris > sect. Limniris > ser. Vernae | Iridaceae > Iris > subg. Limniris > sect. Limniris > ser. Sibirica | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Neubeckia verna | |||||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 39. (1753) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 39. (1753) | ||||
Web links |