''Iris marsica'' is a plant species in the genus ''

Iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (given name), a feminine given name, and a list of peopl ...

'', it is also in the subgenus ''

''. It is a

rhizomatous In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

, from the

Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...

, in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It has glaucous, sickle-shaped or curved, light green leaves, slender stem with 2 branches, and 3 violet, light blue violet, dark violet, and dark purple flowers. It was only found and described since 1973, and is not yet in general cultivation. It was once thought to be a form of Iris germanica, but has different morphological characteristics and different chromosomal differences.

Description

It is similar in form to '' Iris germanica'', but it has more curved leaves (or sickle-shaped,) greener, and longer leaves, the stem is less glaucous,British Iris Society (1997) and it has less scarious (membranous) spathes. It has a thick rhizome, with many

stoloniferous In biology, a stolon ( from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as a runner, is a horizontal connection between parts of an organism. It may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton. Typically, animal stolons ar ...

and fibrous branches. The rhizomes grow at ground level. It has

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

, (or

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

), falcate (sickle-shaped), light green and slightly glaucous leaves. They can grow up to long. They often have 2–3 basal (rising from the rhizome) leaves, with one sheathing the stem. It has a flattened stem, or peduncle, that can grow up to between tall. It has 2 short branches, (or

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

s), the lowest branch is similar in length to the bract. The other branch, appears from the midpoint on the stem. The stem has 2–3 green, marked with purple, slightly inflated, rounded, spathes (leaves of the flower bud). They are scarious (along the top part of the leaf), at blooming time. The stem (and the branches) hold up to 3 flowers, in early season, in April, May, or between May and June. The slightly fragrant, flowers come in shades of violet, light blue violet, dark violet, and dark purple. It sometimes has bi-toned flowers. Like other irises, it has 2 pairs of petals, 3 large

sepals A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

(outer petals), known as the 'falls' and 3 inner, smaller petals (or

tepals A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of ve ...

), known as the 'standards'. The falls are obovate or cuneate (wedge shaped), and long and 4.5 cm wide. They have dark veining on the haft (near to the stem), They also sometimes curl under. In the centre, of the falls is a 'beard', or line of white hairs, tipped with yellow. The standards are elliptic shaped, with a narrow haft, and long and 3.8 cm wide. It has 3.8 cm long perianth tube, the style branch is normally, white with violet crest. The crest is toothed (dentate). It has white or blue filaments, and pale cream

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

. It has a triangular in section ovary. After the iris has flowered, it produces a seed capsule, which has not been described.

Biochemistry

In 2000, 11 iris species were studied and their leaf

flavonoid Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans. Chemically, flavonoids ...

isoflavonoid Isoflavonoids are a class of flavonoid phenolic compounds, many of which are biologically active. Isoflavonoids and their derivatives are sometimes referred to as phytoestrogens, as many isoflavonoid compounds have biological effects via the estr ...

and

xanthone Xanthone is an organic compound with the molecular formula C13H8O2. It is a white solid. In 1939, xanthone was introduced as an insecticide and it currently finds uses as ovicide for codling moth eggs and as a larvicide. Xanthone is also use ...

(chemical) constituents were analysed in order to investigate their

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or Taxon, taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, M ...

. ''Iris marsica'' is thought to have originated from ''

Iris pseudopumila ''Iris pseudopumila'' is a perennial plant species with violet, purple, or yellow flowers, sometimes in combination.The beards are white, yellow, or bluish white.Donald Wyman It is native to southeastern Italy Italy, officially the Itali ...

'' Tineo (chromosomal count of 2n= 16) x ''

Iris variegata ''Iris variegata'', commonly known as the Hungarian iris, is a plant species in the genus ''Iris'', also in the subgenus ''Iris''. It is a rhizomatous perennial from eastern Europe. It has dark green, ribbed leaves. The branched flowering stems c ...

'' L. (2n = 24) but other possible parents are ''

Iris pallida ''Iris pallida'', the Dalmatian iris or sweet iris, is a hardy flowering perennial plant of the genus '' Iris'', family Iridaceae. It is native to the Dalmatian coast (Croatia) but widely naturalised elsewhere. It is a member of the subgenus '' I ...

'' Lam., '' Iris cengialti'' Kern. (Terpin et al. 1996),'' Iris illyrica'' Tomm. (2n = 24) and ''

Iris reichenbachii ''Iris reichenbachii'' is a perennial bearded iris species native to Bulgaria, Montenegro, Serbia, North Macedonia, and into northeast Greece. Flowers are dull purple, yellow, or violet, with each stem giving one or two flowers. It is sometimes ...

'' Heuff. (2n = 24). As most irises are

diploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, ...

, having two sets of

chromosomes A chromosome is a package of DNA containing part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes, the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with nucleosome-forming packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells, the most importa ...

, this can be used to identify hybrids and classification of groupings. It has a chromosome count: 2n=40, it was counted by Colasante & Sauer in 1993. The chromosomal count of 2n=40 is the same as '' Iris setina'', '' Iris bicapitata'', '' Iris lutescens'', ''

Iris relicta Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (given name), a feminine given name, and a list of peopl ...

'' and '' Iris revoluta''.

Taxonomy

It has the common name of 'Marsican iris'.Luciano Di Gregorio The Latin

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''marsica'' refers to

Monti Marsicani The Monti Marsicani (or 'Marsicano',) are the sixth-highest group of Apennines located in the Abruzzo region, mostly in the Province of L’Aquila and partly in the Province of Frosinone and Province of Isernia. The highest peak is Monte Greco (2 ...

(a mountain range) in

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

, Italy. It was first published and described by Ignazio Ricci (1922–1986) and

Maria Antonietta Colasante Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

in 'Annali di botanica' Vol.32 page218, in 1973 (published in 1974), published in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, with 14 colour illustrations. It was later published in the 'Bulletin of the American Iris Society' Vol.292 on pages 82–85 in January 1994. It was verified by

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

and the

Agricultural Research Service The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area. ARS is charged with ext ...

on 4 April 2003, then updated on 3 December 2004. 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 aggregates content to form "pages" for every known species. Content is compiled from existing trusted ...

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

Distribution and habitat

It is

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

to South-eastern Europe.

Range

It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to Italy, within the

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

Molise Molise ( , ; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. Until 1963, it formed part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise together with Abruzzo. The split, which did not become effective until 1970, makes Molise the newest region in Ital ...

and Abruzzo. It has geographic range of , which includes the Apennine Mountains, Monti Simbruini (with ''Iris sambucina'' (a synonym of '' Iris germanica'' L.) and ''Iris chameiris'' (a synonym of '' Iris lutescens'' Lam.)), and The Abruzzo National Park. It is listed in a checklist of

Vascular Vascular can refer to: * blood vessels, the vascular system in animals * vascular tissue Vascular tissue is a complex transporting tissue, formed of more than one cell type, found in vascular plants. The primary components of vascular tissue ...

Flora in Italy, with ''

Iris albicans ''Iris albicans'', also known as the cemetery iris, white cemetery iris, or the white flag iris, is a species of iris which was planted on graves in Muslim regions and grows in many countries throughout the Middle East and northern Africa. It w ...

'', '' Iris bicapitata'', ''

Iris foetidissima ''Iris foetidissima'', the stinking iris,Richard Fitter, Alastair Fitter and Marjorie Blamey gladdon, Gladwin iris, roast-beef plant, or stinking gladwin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae, found in open woodland, hedgebank ...

'', '' Iris germanica'', ''Iris marsica'', ''

'', '' Iris planifolia'', ''

Iris pseudacorus ''Iris pseudacorus'', the yellow flag, yellow iris, or water flag, is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae. It is native to Europe, western Asia and northwest Africa. Its specific epithet ''pseudacorus'' means "false acorus", r ...

'', ''

'', ''Iris relicta'', ''Iris revoluta'' ''Iris setina'', '' Iris sibirica'' and '' Iris xiphium''. It is also listed as endemic species of the Apennines with '' Aquilegia magellensis'', '' Centaurea scannensis'', '' Jonopsidium savianum'', ''

Goniolimon italicum ''Goniolimon'', sometimes called the statices, are a genus of flowering plants in the leadwort and plumbago family Plumbaginaceae, native to northern Africa, southern Europe, western and central Asia, Siberia, Mongolia and China. Low-lying peren ...

'', '' Astragalus aquilanus'' and '' Achillea luncana''.

Habitat

It grows on the dry grasslands, mountain pastures, and scrub lands.

Conservation

''Iris marsica'' has only been recorded from a limited number of locations, about 12 localities have a stable population. Most (10), are within the Abruzzo National Park. It is at risk of

extinction Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

, due to the threat of collection (from the wild). It is listed on the IUCN Red List of Plants of Italy, on both the national and regional sections, as 'lower risk (LR). It is now listed as a 'strictly protected' flora species. It is protected by the EU Habitats Directive (Annex IV) and the Berne Convention (Annexe I) 1979.Council of Europe (Editors) 3 records are listed on

Global Biodiversity Information Facility The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international organisation that focuses on making scientific data on biodiversity available via the Internet using web services. The data are provided by many institutions from around th ...

. In 2011, it was listed on the ''European Red List of Vascular Plants'' of the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

as 'Data Deficient' (DD).

Cultivation

It is

hardy Hardy may refer to: People * Hardy (surname) * Hardy (given name) * Hardy (singer), American singer-songwriter Places Antarctica * Mount Hardy, Enderby Land * Hardy Cove, Greenwich Island * Hardy Rocks, Biscoe Islands Australia * Hardy, ...

. It prefers situations in well-drained soils in full sun. It can be grown on slopes, and can be grown in similar situations as other bearded irises. It is not regularly available for sale, but only cultivated by iris collectors. Specimens can be seen in 'Michele Tenore Majella Botanical Garden', (also known as ' Giardino Botanico della Majella') situated within the scree slopes section of the garden.

Propagation

Irises can generally be propagated by division, or by seed growing.

Toxicity

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

References

Sources

* Mathew, B. 1981. The Iris. 31. * Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964–1980. Flora europaea.

External links

Has an image of the iris in flower

Has a map of Italy, where the flower can be located and several images of the flowers
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15571488

marsica Marsica is a geographical and historical region in Abruzzo, central Italy, including 37 ''comuni'' in the province of L'Aquila. It is located between the plain of the former Fucine Lake, the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise, National Par ...

Plants described in 1973 Garden plants Flora of Europe Flora of Italy Endemic flora of Italy