Iris longipetala
| Iris longipetala | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Iridaceae |
| Subfamily: | Iridoideae |
| Tribe: | Irideae |
| Genus: | Iris |
| Subgenus: | Limniris |
| Series: | Longipetalae |
| Species: | Iris longipetala |
| Binomial name | |
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Iris longipetala Herb. |
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| Synonyms | |
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Iris longipetala is a species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus of Limniris and in the series Longipetalae. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from North America. It has dark green or bluish green, grass-like leaves, small stem and 3-8 flowers, that range from creamy-white, pale blue to lavender blue. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions.
Iris longipetala has a rhizome (approx. 10–25 mm diam), with small trailing branches (which are approx. 2–2.5 cm in diam.) and plenty of fleshy toots. The spreading rhizomes give the appearance of a clump forming plant. It can form dense colonies.
It has a small stem, which reaches a height of between 30–60 cm (0.98–1.97 ft), with a few branches (1 or 2) and is about 3–6 cm in diameter. The stem has 3 leaves along it, which overlap and wrap around the stem.
The leaves can be either dark green or bluish green and they can be equal or just shorter than the flowering stems. They start at the base of the plant, rising up with a grass-like form. They are generally, between 5-11mm wide. They are briefly deciduous, turning grey or yellow-brown when dying. Before soon re-appearing, giving the plant an evergreen appearance.
It can have between 3-8 flowers per stem, in spring, (March—April) or summer (in Europe). The lilac-purple perianth tube is between 3–8 cm in length.
The very lightly scented flowers come in a range of shades from creamy-white, pale blue to lavender blue. Each flower has a purple (lilac to dark purple) veining. The falls often have a slight yellowish signal patch.
They are large, measuring about 4–6 inches (10–15 centimetres) across, but with narrow petals.
It has 2-lobed stigmas.
After flowering, it has a (oblong-ovoid shaped) seed capsule (measuring approx. 2in long) that is narrowed at each end. The capsule has 6 ribs along it length. It is almost round in cross-section. Inside are wrinkled dark brown globular seeds, which are pyriform.
As most irises are diploid, having two sets of chromosomes. This can be used to identify hybrids and classification of groupings. It has a chromosome count : 2n=86, 88, (found by Simonet in 1932).
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Wikipedia