Contains 11 accepted taxa overall.
Characteristics
Mature fruits are very helpful for identification but rarely are collected. The flowers are very showy and, in most of our irises, the sepals are the most prominent and largest part of the flower. The sepals are the brightly colored (violet, blue, copper, yellow) outer whorl that often have markings (e.g. yelllow or white) near the base and center. The petaloid stigmas (inner whorl) arch directly over the sepals and can be bifurcate at the tip. The petals are the middle whorl that alternate with the sepals, and in I. tridentata are rather small. However, in Iris domestica the stigmas are not petal-like.
Classification
Citation
IRIS Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 38. 1753.
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TYPE: Iris germanica Linnaeus Lectotypified by Britton & A. Brown, Ill. Fl. N. U.S., ed. 2. 1: 536. 1913.
Species
| Scientific Name | Common Name | Herbarium Specimens | Status | Photos |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iris cristata | Dwarf Crested Iris | |||
| Iris domestica | Blackberry-lily | |||
| Iris germanica | German Iris, Fleur-de-Lys | |||
| Iris hexagona | Anglepod Blue Flag | |||
| Iris prismatica | Slender Blue Iris, Slender Blue Flag | |||
| Iris pseudacorus | Water Flag, Yellow Flag | |||
| Iris shrevei | Southern Blue Flag | |||
| Iris tridentata | Savannah Iris | |||
| Iris verna var. smalliana | Upland Dwarf Iris | |||
| Iris verna var. verna | Coastal Plain Dwarf Iris, Sandhill Iris | |||
| Iris virginica | Southern Blue Flag |
Identification Key
1. Sepals and petals orange, reddish orange, to pinkish orange, sometimes with darker orange to reddish spots; style branch or stigma not petaloid, not closely hovering over the sepals
1. Sepals and petals white, blue, purple, lavender, yellow, orange, orange-red, or mixtures of, any spots not orange or reddish; style branch or stigma petaloid, closely arching or hovering over the sepals
2
2. Sepals with multicellular hairs (beard) along midrib of claw and base of blade
3
2. Sepals without beard, usually with signal of contrasting color, fine pubescence, ridges, or cockscomblike crest
4
3. Spathes herbaceous with narrow scarious margins and tip, green, sometimes purple at base
3. Spathes entirely scarious, silvery white
4. Perianth entirely yellow
4. Perianth not entirely yellow
5
5. Perianth uniformly (or nearly so) pinkish brown, yellowish brown, red-brown, to orange-red
5. Perianth mostly white, blue, purple, lavender, and mixtures of, often with yellow or orangish markings on the basally along the midrib of the sepals
6
6. Sepals white to pale bluish with yellow-orange spots and bands, the margins fimbriate-lacerate
6. Sepals mostly blue, purple, or lavender with only bands of yellow to orange color, rarely only yellow, the margins entire, undulate, to subtly roughened-undulate
7
7. Style branch broad, more than half as long as sepal, broadly upcurved at the apex
7. Style branch narrow, less than half as long as sepal, upcurved at the very tip
8
8. Petals generally hidden by base of sepals, 1-2 cm long
8. Petals conspicuous, exserted, 2-9.5 cm long
9
9. Capsules 3-angled or nearly round in cross section and lacking angles, ridges, or wings
10
9. Capsules with 6 angles, ridges, or wings
11
10. Rhizomes heterogeneous, innovations appearing at some distance from parent rhizome; flowering scape to 15 cm long; perianth tube subequal to sepals; seeds arillate
10. Rhizomes homogeneous; innovations appearing close to parent rhizome; flowering scape (30)50-100 cm long; perianth tube shorter than the sepals; seeds not arillate
11. Stems declining or semierect, sharply zigzag, 20-40 cm long
11. Stems erect, not obviously zigzag, 30-150(200) cm long
12
12. Leaves yellow-green and evergreen; sepals tips acute to rounded; fruit 2.5-3.5 cm long, with 3 plane faces and 3 faces with 2 rounded ridges, strongly hexagonal
12. Leaves bright green, not evergreen; sepal tips obtuse, acute, to acuminate; fruit 6-10 cm long nearly circular in cross section, only slightly if at all hexagonal, with 6 narrow, winglike ridges or 6 broadly rounded lobes
13
13. Fruit with 6 broad, rounded lobes, indehiscent
13. Fruit with 6 sharp, winglike ridges, dehiscent
Genus Synonyms
| Synonym | Full Citation | Basionym | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| No synonyms found. | |||