''Iris songarica'' is a beardless

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 ...

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 ...

'', in the subgenus '' Limniris'' and in the series '' Tenuifoliae'' of the genus. 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 ...

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 ...

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 Central Asia, located in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

and

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

. It has long strap-like leaves, a long stem and 2–3 flowers in shades of violet, dark blue, to lavender blue.

Description

''Iris songarica'' flowers are similar in form to '' Iris spuria'' but differ in the colour shades. It has a slender, knobbly, dark rhizome. Under the rhizome, are filamentous (feeder) roots, that can grow to a depth of into the soils and extend outwards between . On top of the rhizome, the vestiges or remains of last season's leaves/the maroon-brown fibres interweave, creating a spiral like effect. They also surround the base of the new leaves, as a sheath. It has rigid, strap-like, linear, greyish-green leaves, which are long and 2–3mm wide,(at flowering time). Afterwards, they then extend up to long and 7-10mm wide. It has a visible longitudinal vein. It has a

terete Terete is a term in botany used to describe a cross section (geometry), cross section that is circular, or like a distorted circle, with a single surface wrapping around it.Lichen Vocabulary, Lichens of North America Information, Sylvia and S ...

(round in cross-section) flowering stem, that can grow up to long. The stem often is longer than the leaves. It has 3 pointed (acuminate), green, between long and 1.8–2 cm wide,

spathe In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also look ...

s (leaves of the flower bud). The stems hold normally 2–3 (normally), 3–5 (rarely) terminal (top of stem) flowers, blooming in spring, between June and July. The multiple flowering plants were originally called ''Iris songarica'' var. ''multiflora'', but this has been classified as a synonym. The funnel-like flowers are in diameter, and come in shades of violet, dark blue, to lavender blue. 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 fiddle shaped, long and 1 cm wide, with an ovate or elliptic limb (at the tips). They have violet or purple spots or blotches. The oblanceolate, erect standards are long and 5 mm wide. They also can have a darker colour veining, spots or blotches. It has a long perianth tube, 4.5 cm long pedicel, 2.5 cm long ovary and 2.5 cm long stamens. It has linear, reddish-brown anthers, The style branches are 3.5 cm long and 1 cm wide, similar in size to the standards, but a different shade of colour. It has 2-lobed stigmas, with triangular shaped teeth and purple filaments. After the iris has flowered, it produces an ovoid to cylindric, sometimes oblong, seed capsule, long and 1.5–2 cm wide, in mid to late summer, between May and June (in Central Asia) or August and September (in China). It is leather-like, veined and has a long beak-like appendage on the top. It can carry up 20 seeds. The seeds are maroon-brown to dark brown, pyriform (pear-shaped) or elliptical, rugose (wrinkled), with a hard coating. They have a basal hilum.

Biochemistry

In 2004, a study of ''Iris songarica'' found the presence of 2

isoflavones Isoflavones are a type of naturally-occurring isoflavonoids, many of which act as phytoestrogens in mammals. Isoflavones occur in many plant species, but are especially high in soybeans. Although isoflavones and closely-related phytoestrogens are ...

, ''Irilin A'' and ''Irisone B'' which were isolated from the iris using a spectrophotometer and Column chromatography. In May 2008, a study was carried out on the

anatomical Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

structure of the leaf and drought resistance of 4 different species of Iris (''Iris songarica'', '' Iris potaninii'', '' Iris loczyi'' and '' Iris lactea'') from

Qinghai Qinghai is an inland Provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. It is the largest provinces of China, province of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is Xin ...

, China. It showed that all the species were strongly adaptable to drought conditions. In October 2008, a study was carried out to isolate the

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 ...

s from the roots and rhizome of ''Iris songarica'', and what effect they had on

estrogenic Estrogen (also spelled oestrogen in British English; see spelling differences) is a category of sex hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics. There are three maj ...

activity. It found a new dihydro-flavonol (called ''songaricol''), and seven known flavonoids. Some of these compounds had some

antioxidant Antioxidants are Chemical compound, compounds that inhibit Redox, oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce Radical (chemistry), free radicals. Autoxidation leads to degradation of organic compounds, including living matter. Antioxidants ...

activity in certain cells and some effected yeast cells expressing human estrogen. In 2008, in previous studies it was known that irises contain iso-flavonoids. A new study was carried out to determine the phytoestorgenic activity of ''Iris songarica'' rhizomes and roots. In 2014, several plant species seed were studied including ''Iris stocksii'' (Baker), ''Iris aitchisonii'' (Baker) Boiss. and ''Iris songarica'' Shrenk.

Genetics

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 of 2n=20. It was also counted as 2n=22, 44 by (Zahareva and Makeushenko 1968) and (Fedorov 1969).

Taxonomy

It is written as 准噶尔鸢尾 in

Chinese script Chinese characters are logographs used Written Chinese, to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represe ...

and known as ''zhun ga er yuan wei'' in China. It has the common name of ''Junggar Iris'' or ''Songar Iris''. It is known as 'Kampir soch', 'Karakosh', 'Kamchalak', 'Kirka soch', 'Kirka-ch ash' (in

), ''Kum-bersh'' (in

) and 'Teke-sakal' (in

).International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Area (editors) It is known as 'gharwasha' in

Pushtu Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyber ...

(India). 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 ...

''songarica'' refers to the region of '' Songaria'' in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Where the iris was first found. Songaria and Kashgaria were the two provinces known as the "New Dominion" during the

Dungan Revolt (1862–77) Dungan revolt may refer to: * Dungan Revolt (1862–1877) The Dungan Revolt (1862–1877), also known as the Tongzhi Hui Revolt (, Xiao'erjing: تُ‌جِ خُوِ لُوًا, ) or Hui (Muslim) Minorities War, was a war fought in 19th-centur ...

. Songaria is now part of

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

Kashgar Kashgar () or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is a city in the Tarim Basin region of southern Xinjiang, China. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, located near the country's border with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. For over 2,000 years, Kashgar ...

still exists. It was published and described by

Alexander von Schrenk Alexander Gustav von Schrenk (4 February 1816 – 25 June 1876) was a Baltic German-Russian naturalist born near Tula in what was then the Russian Empire. He was a brother to zoologist Leopold von Schrenck (1826–1894). From 1834 to 1837, he s ...

in ''Enum Pl.'' Vol.1 page3 in 1841. It was later published in ''

Gardeners' Chronicle ''The Gardeners' Chronicle'' was a British horticulture periodical. It lasted as a title in its own right for nearly 150 years and is still extant as part of the magazine '' Horticulture Week''. History Founded in 1841 by the horticulturists Jose ...

'' Series 95, page 44 on 20 January 1933. 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 ...

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 2 October 2014, and as of January 2015, it is listed as a ''tentatively accepted'' name by the RHS.

Distribution and habitat

''Iris songarica'' is a

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 a wide region, of various

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

areas of Central

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. Ranging from Iran (Persia) to Tibet.

Range

It is found in the western Asian countries of

and

. (including

Gonabad Gonabad () is a city in the Central District of Gonabad County, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. The city is best known as the home of the Gonabadi Dervishes and also for its '' qa ...

). In the middle Asian countries of (the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

republics of), it is found in

and

. It is found within Turkestan, in the

Kopet Dag The Köpet Dag, Kopet Dagh, or Koppeh Dagh (; ), also known as the Turkmen-Khorasan Mountain Range, is a mountain range on the border between Turkmenistan and Iran that extends about along the border southeast of the Caspian Sea, stretching nort ...

mountain range. Also found in Mongolia, and northern China. In 2010, a study was carried out into the infiltration rate in an arid ecosystem, in Yazd Province, a central region in

. Various species of plant were studied including '' Artemiaia sieberi'' and '' Astragalus achrochlarus'', (native species that have expanded considerably in extent and density) Other plant species included '' Astragalus candolleanus'', ''Iris songarica'', '' Stachys inflate'', '' Lactuca glaucifolia'', '' Poa sinaica'', ''

Stipa barbata ''Stipa'' is a genus of 141 species of large perennial hermaphroditic grasses collectively known as feather grass, needle grass, and spear grass. They are placed in the subfamily Pooideae and the tribe Stipeae, which also contains many species ...

'' and ''

Agropyron desertorum ''Agropyron desertorum'' (clustered wheat grass, desert crested wheatgrass, desert wheatgrass, standard crested wheatgrass; syn. ''Agropyron cristatum'' subsp. ''desertorum'' (Fisch. ex Link) A. Löve, ''Agropyron cristatum'' var. ''desertorum'' ...

''.

Habitat

It is found growing on clay desert

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...

s or desert positions, in sunny grasslands or dry meadows, on stony hillside and on grassy hillsides.

Cultivation

''Iris songarica'' is not common in cultivation in the UK, or Europe, only be cultivated by collectors or as research plants. It likes sandy, well drained soils. It can also prefers alkaline soils. It can grow on loamy soils, on sandy gritty soils and gravelly soils. It prefers positions in full sun. It needs to be kept dry during the winter (and autumn, if a very wet season is forecast), needing the protection of a

bulb frame In botany, a bulb is a short underground 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 duri ...

s or similar. It only needs water during the growing season. In June 1886, a specimen of ''Iris songarica'', collected by C. Kuntze from the deserts of

, was given to ''The William and Lynda Steere

Herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...

'' of the

New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...

Aphid Aphids are small sap-sucking insects in the Taxonomic rank, family Aphididae. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white Eriosomatinae, woolly ...

'' Dysaphis tulipae'' can be found on the plant.R. L. Blackman and Victor F. Eastop

Propagation

It can also be propagated by division or by seed growing. It needs stratification (at temperatures of 1-10oC for 1–2 years). This method of seed preparation can get a germination rate of up to 95%.

Uses

In China, there are many studies about this plant, which could be described as a

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

, due to it is medicinal

properties. A powder of the ground up roots are mixed with curd is used as a herbal remedy to treat

diarrhoea Diarrhea (American English), also spelled diarrhoea or diarrhœa (British English), is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration d ...

. The remedy is also used in

. In Russia, the fibrous leaf sheaths (on top of the rhizome, surrounding new leaves) are used in

brush A brush is a common tool with bristles, wire or other filaments. It generally consists of a handle or block to which filaments are affixed in either a parallel or perpendicular orientation, depending on the way the brush is to be gripped during u ...

production. They are used to create the bristles of the brush. In Uzbekistan, sheep are known to eat the seed capsules, also some shepherds consider the plant to be poisonous. The dry leaves are often harvested for litter or dry bedding for cattle in barns. It sometimes considered an 'invader' covering large arid areas or abandoned fields which are dry and poor in nutrients. The leaves are known to contain 18%

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

, 16% fibre and 12% fat and a large amount of

alkaloid Alkaloids are a broad class of natural product, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids. Alkaloids are produced by a large varie ...

s. The roots have been used in medicine, used to treat

toothache Toothaches, also known as dental pain or tooth pain,Segen JC. (2002). ''McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine''. The McGraw-Hill Companies. is pain in the teeth or their supporting structures, caused by dental diseases or referred ...

and childhood diseases. It has also been used within the cosmetic industry.

References

Sources

*Czerepanov, S. K. 1995. Vascular plants of Russia and adjacent states (the former USSR). *Khassanov, F. O. & N. Rakhimova. 2012. Taxonomic revision of the genus Iris L. (Iridaceae Juss.) for the flora of Central Asia. Stapfia 97:175. *Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934–1964. Flora SSSR. *Mathew, B. 1981. The Iris. 123. *Rechinger, K. H., ed. 1963–. Flora iranica. *Vladimir Komarov Leont'evič, Flora of the USSR, Jerusalem, 1963– (English edition) *Waddick, J. W. & Zhao Yu-tang. 1992. Iris of China. *Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994–. Flora of China (English edition).

External links

Has image of Iris songarica flower
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q5932324 songarica Flora of Central Asia Flora of China Flora of Iran Flora of Mongolia Flora of Pakistan Garden plants of Asia Plants described in 1841 Flora of Afghanistan Flora of Kazakhstan Flora of Tajikistan Flora of Turkmenistan Flora of Uzbekistan Medicinal plants of Asia