Iris virginica |
Iris giganticaerulea |
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iris de virginie, southern blue flag, Virginia iris |
giant blue iris |
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Rhizomes | many-branched, forming dense clumps, 2–4 cm diam., usually covered with remnants of old leaves; roots fleshy. |
green, extensively branched, forming large clumps, 2–4 cm diam., with pale leaf scars. |
Stems | rather weak, often falling over after flowering, solid, usually 1-branched, 5–10 dm. |
2–3-branched, solid, 10–15(–20+) dm. |
Leaves | basal erect or often flexible, blade gray-green to bright green, buff to purplish basally, with several prominent ribs in mature leaves, linear-ensiform, 6–8 dm × 2.5–3 cm, apex acute. |
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 | 2–3-flowered, branch units 1–2-flowered; spathes compact, often with brown striations, ridged, unequal, outer 3–8 cm, inner 8–14 cm, firm, herbaceous. |
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 lavender to violet, rarely white; floral tube constricted above ovary, 1–2 cm; sepals spreading and arched, pale blue to purple with darker blue or purple lines, obovate to oval, 4–8.4 × 1.6–4 cm, base abruptly attenuate, claw green in median, bordered by yellow ground with blue or purple lines, yellow extending onto base of limb as finely pubescent signal patch; petals oblong-lanceolate to oblong-spatulate, 3–7 × 1–3 cm, claw greenish yellow with blue or purplish lines, apex often emarginate; ovary trigonal, 1.3–3.8 cm; style inwardly auriculate at convergences, 3–4.5 cm, crests reflexed, 0.7–2 cm; stigmas unlobed, with prominent triangular tongues, margins entire; pedicel 2.5–8 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 | ovoid, ellipsoid, or long-cylindric, trigonal or polygonal in cross section, 3–6 × 1–2 cm. |
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 | in 2 rows per locule, pale brown, usually D-shaped, 5–8 mm, pitted, corky. |
in 2 rows per locule, brown, D-shaped, 8–10 mm wide, very corky. |
2n | = 70, 72. |
= 44. |
Iris virginica |
Iris giganticaerulea |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Jun. | Flowering Mar–Apr. |
Habitat | Wetlands, margins of lakes and streams | Shallow water or very wet roadside ditches |
Distribution |
AL; AR; DC; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MD; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WI; WV; ON; QC
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AL; LA; MS
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Discussion | Plants of Iris virginica from the southeastern and south-central states having stems 2–3-branched and seldom falling to the ground after flowering, and with capsules long-cylindric have been recognized as var. shrevei. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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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. caroliniana, I. georgiana, I. shrevei, I. virginica var. shrevei | I. elephantina, I. hexagona var. giganticaerulea, I. miraculosa |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 39. (1753) | Small: Addisonia 14: 5, plate 451. (1929) |
Web links |