''Iris orchioides'', the orchid iris'',' is a plant species in the genus ''

Iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

'', it is also in the subgenus ''Scorpiris''. It is a

bulbous In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs durin ...

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

, from the mountains of

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

and

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

. It has dark green leaves, slender stems, up to three yellow flowers in spring. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

regions.

Description

''Iris orchioides'' grows up to tall. Its stem is hidden by channeled leaves until the flowers fade. It has between 5-7, dark green, broad leaves that grow up to 6–8 inches tall. It has up to 3 yellow flowers on its stem. The flowers vary in shading, from deep yellow to creamy-yellow to a

translucent In the field of optics, transparency (also called pellucidity or diaphaneity) is the physical property of allowing light to pass through the material without appreciable scattering of light. On a macroscopic scale (one in which the dimensions ...

pale yellow, between March and May. It has a big winged haft (the narrow constricted part of the standards (petals) and falls (sepals) near the center of the iris flower) which are about 2-cm (1") wide. It also has hairs on the ridge of the falls (which are very similar in look to a beard (of a bearded iris). It has standards are 1/2 inches wide and linear. It has cylindrical capsules and seeds without arils. These are similar to Iris bucharica and Iris warleyensis have cubiform seeds,

Taxonomy

It is commonly called the 'orchid iris'. It is called 'Ukrop' in its native Kazakh.

Anna Pavord Anna Pavord (born 20 September 1940) ''People of Today'' (2017) Debrett's, "Anna Pavord" is a British horticultural writer. She wrote for ''The Observer'' for over twenty years and for ''The independent'' for over thirty years - from its first to ...

It was first published and described by (French botanist)

Élie-Abel Carrière Élie-Abel Carrière (4 June 1818 – 17 August 1896) was a French botanist, based in Paris. He was a leading authority on conifers in the period 1850–1870, describing many new species, and the new genera ''Tsuga'', ''Keteleeria'' and ...

in 'Revue Horticole'(Paris) in 1880). It was listed in 1995 in 'Vascular plants of Russia and adjacent states (the former USSR)' by Czerepanov, S. K. ''Iris orchioides'' is an accepted name by the RHS. It is often mistakenly, to be a yellow form of Iris bucharica or Iris tienshanica (a synonym of Iris loczyi (Kanitz.)) also from Kazakhstan). 'Iris orchioides var. caerulea' (Baker) is a synonym of Iris vicaria (Vved.). It was verified by

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

and the Agricultural Research Service on 2 October 2014. It is listed in the

Encyclopedia of Life The ''Encyclopedia of Life'' (''EOL'') is a free, online encyclopedia intended to document all of the 1.9 million living species known to science. It is compiled from existing trusted databases curated by experts and with the assistance of ...

. ''Iris orchioides'' is an accepted name by the RHS.

Distribution and habitat

It is

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to temperate Asia.

Range

It is found in the mountains of Central Asia. It has been found in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...

and

Habitat

It likes the stoney soils of the foothills.British Iris Society (1997)

Cultivation

It is hardy to

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

Zone 5. It is best grown in an

alpine house A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These s ...

bulb frame In agriculture and gardening, a cold frame is a transparent-roofed enclosure, built low to the ground, used to protect plants from adverse weather, primarily excessive cold or wet. The transparent top admits sunlight and prevents heat escape via c ...

. It prefers to grow in full sun.

Known cultivars

* Iris orchioides 'Sulphurea' Found in 1990, has canary-yellow flowers. * Iris orchioides 'Khirghizian Gold'

Toxicity

Like many other irises, most parts of the plant are poisonous (rhizome and leaves), if mistakenly ingested can cause stomach pains and vomiting. Also handling the plant may cause a skin irritation or an allergic reaction.David G Spoerke and Susan C. Smolinske

References

Other sources

* Czerepanov, S. K. 1995. Vascular plants of Russia and adjacent states (the former USSR). Juno orchioides (Carrière) Vved. * Khassanov, F. O. & N. Rakhimova. 2012. Taxonomic revision of the genus Iris L. (Iridaceae Juss.) for the flora of Central Asia. Stapfia 97:177. * Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934–1964. Flora SSSR. * Mathew, B. 1981. The Iris. 157–158.

External links

Various small irises3 Images of cultivars; 'Kirghizian Gold' and Iris orchioides 'Kuramin'
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q15572321 orchioides Plants described in 1880 Flora of Uzbekistan Flora of Kyrgyzstan Flora of Asia Taxa named by Élie-Abel Carrière