''Iris tridentata'' is a species of ''

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 ...

'' belonging to the subgenus '' Limniris'' and the series '' Tripetalae''. 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 ...

native to the Southeastern United States, it features a cord-like rhizome, bright green leaves, long stem. In spring, it produces fragrant flowers in shades of blue.

Description

''Iris tridentata'' has unique flower and growth habit features compared to other irises, including the other two species within ''Iris series Tripetalae''. The iris rhizome has been noted by W. R. Dykes (1913) as "almost stoloniferous", by J. K. Small (1933), "the cord-like rootstocks are peculiar", and by R. K. Godfrey and J. W. Wooton (1979), "clothed with coarse, strongly many-ribbed, brown, overlapping scales". The slender rhizomes, branch very easily creating large spreading colonies. They are generally 1.5–2 cm in diameter with coarse, strongly ribbed, brown, scale-like leaves. It roots at the nodes of the rhizomes. The iris grows to a height of between 30 and 70 cm tall, (12" to 28"). The flowering stalk (stem) is generally taller than the surrounding leaves, and 3–7 cm in diameter. It has between 1 and 3 branches (normally one) holding one flower. In late spring, the new bright green leaves will grow and lengthen, from the base of the plant, and grow to between 30 and 50 cm long, or (a foot to 18 in). They occasionally have red-brown edge, upright (or sword-like) in shape, and 1.5 to 2.3 cm wide. The leaves can encircle the stem of the plant. It has fragrant flowers in spring, between May and June. The flowers come in a range of blue shades. From violet, violet-blue, purple, purple-blue, and blue. They also have a darker purple veining and a yellow-white signal. Very similar to ''Iris virginica'', it has very small bristle free, standards (about 1.5 cm long). The sepals are about long. The perianth tube is about 2–2.5 cm long. It has a seed capsule (after flowering) between August and October. The capsule is globule to oblong shaped, (about 2.5–4 × 2 cm). Inside are dark red-brown semi-circular, flattened seeds (about 6-8mm wide). The seeds are very similar to Louisiana irises or '' Iris virginica''.

Biochemistry

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.

Taxonomy

It has the common name of ''Savannah Iris'',Tina M. Samuels or ''Bay Blue-flag Iris'', Note, normally ''

Iris versicolor ''Iris versicolor'' or ''Iris versicolour'' is also commonly known as the blue flag, harlequin blueflag, larger blue flag, northern blue flag, and poison flag, plus other variations of these names, and in Great Britain and Ireland as purple iris ...

'' is commonly called 'Blue flag iris'. and occasionally ''Purple Flag''.Mary A. Hood Note, '' Iris germanica'' can also be called 'Purple Flag'. It was originally called ''Iris tripetala'' by Thomas Walter in Flor. Cab. 66. in 1788, but the specific name 'tripetala' had to be later rejected because it had already been used by

Carl Linnaeus the Younger Carl Linnaeus the Younger, Carolus Linnaeus the Younger, Carl von Linné den yngre ( Swedish; abbreviated Carl von Linné d. y.), or ''Linnaeus filius'' (Latin for ''Linnaeus the son''; abbreviated L.fil. (outdated) or L.f. (modern) as a botani ...

(son of

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

), for what later became '' Moraea tripetala'' (L.f.) Ker Gawler. 'Tridentata' means three toothed iris in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

.Robert Sweet and Edwin Dalton Smith It was first published by

Pursh The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

in 'Flora Americae Septentrionalis' (translated as Systematic Arrangement and Description of the Plants of North America) in December 1813.

Native

''Iris tridentata'' is found in

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...

, in regions that have rivers that drain into the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. More specifically;

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, ( Escambia County Palm Beach, Duvall County, and

Wakulla County Wakulla County is a county located in the Big Bend region in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,764. Its county seat is Crawfordville. Wakulla County is part of the Tallahassee, Flo ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

( Clarksville, Calhoun County, and

Carolina Bay Carolina bays are elliptical to circular depressions concentrated along the East Coast of the United States within coastal New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and north Florida.Kaczorowski ...

s,),

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, ( Appling County),

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

and

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

( Johnson Bayou). It prefers the habitat of wetlands, wet

savannahs A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient li ...

, damp meadows, damp ditches, pine flatwoods, swamps (in Tennessee), bogs (in Florida), and beside the margins of pineland pools or small ponds and streams.

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, ...

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

Zone 5 to 8. It can grow in part-shaded places, with acidic soils within gardens. It will grow well, when planted in a butterfly garden. It can also be classed as a

bog garden A bog garden is a type of garden that employs permanently moist (but not waterlogged) soil to create a habitat for plants and creatures which thrive in such conditions. It may exploit existing poor drainage in the garden, or it may be artificial ...

plant, tolerating waterside edges. During the winter period, depending on the severity of the winter, the leaves generally die, to re-grow next spring. When, new plants are planted, they take a year to settle in before flowering. They can be grown in large pots or containers. It is rare in cultivation in the UK, as it is not very hardy. It is mentioned in 'A Fifth Checklist of Tennessee Vascular Plants'. Specimens are found in

Florida Museum of Natural History The Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) is Florida's official state-sponsored and chartered natural history museum. Its main facilities are located at 3215 Hull Road on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, Gaine ...

References

Sources

* Albert E. Radford, Harry E. Ahles, C. Ritchie Bell, Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas, 1964, The University of North Carolina Press.

External links

*
Image of Tridentata
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q15572631 tridentata Flora of the Southeastern United States Plants described in 1813 Taxa named by Frederick Traugott Pursh Flora without expected TNC conservation status