Iris barnumiae subsp. demawendica
| Iris barnumiae subsp. demawendica | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Iridaceae |
| Subfamily: | Iridoideae |
| Tribe: | Irideae |
| Genus: | Iris |
| Subgenus: | Iris |
| Species: | Iris barnumiae |
| Subspecies: | Iris barnumiae subsp. demawendica |
| Binomial name | |
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Iris barnumiae subsp. demawendica (Bornm.) B.Mathew & Wendelbo |
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| Synonyms | |
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Iris barnumiae subsp. demawendica (also spelled as demavendica) is a species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus of Iris and in the Oncocyclus section. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from Elburz Mountains in Iran. It was originally thought to be a separate species before going through various changes before being classed as a subspecies of Iris barnumiae. It has erect, grey-green (grass-like) leaves and two large flowers, which come in shades from claret-red, burgundy, violet-blue, to dark purple, with a white or cream beard. It is rarely cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions, due to the environmental conditions it prefers.
It is a geophyte, with small rhizomes and very short fibrous secondary roots. The roots do not multiply very quickly, to make clumps of plants.
The leaves are erect, grass-like and grey green. They can grow up to 15 cm (6 in) long, and between 0.4 and 0.7 cm wide. After the blooms died, the leaves also die back.
It has a slender stem or peduncle, that can grow up to 15 cm (6 in) tall.
The stems hold 2 terminal (top of stem) flowers, which bloom between April, May, or June to July.
The flowers are larger than Iris iberica, and come in shades from claret-red, burgundy, violet, violet-blue, to dark purple.
Like other irises, it has 2 pairs of petals, 3 large sepals (outer petals), known as the 'falls' and 3 inner, smaller petals (or tepals), known as the 'standards'. The falls are larger, and wider than I. barnumiae. They have deep violet-red veins, and a narrow and sometimes unseen, darker signal patch. In the middle of the falls, is a narrow, row of short hairs called the 'beard', which is white, grey-white, or cream. The standards are paler than the falls.
After the iris has flowered, it produces a seed capsule, which has not yet been described.
As most irises are diploid, having two sets of chromosomes, this can be used to identify hybrids and classification of groupings. In 1977, 47 species of the irises in the Oncocyclus section were analysed, and found to have a chromosome count of 2n=20.
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Wikipedia