''Iris unguicularis'' ( syn. ''Iris stylosa''), the Algerian iris, 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 ...

flowering plant in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

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 ...

'',

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 Algeria, Greece, Turkey, Western Syria, and Tunisia. It grows to , with grassy evergreen leaves, producing pale lilac or purple flowers with a central band of yellow on the falls. The flowers appear in winter and early spring. They are fragrant, with pronounced

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower. It is a structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepal ...

tubes up to long. This plant is widely cultivated in

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 ...

regions, and numerous

cultivars A cultivar is a kind of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and which retains those traits when propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue cult ...

have been selected for garden use, including a slightly more tender white form 'Alba', and a

dwarf Dwarf, dwarfs or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a supernatural being from Germanic folklore * Dwarf, a human or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a sh ...

variety ''I. unguicularis'' subsp. ''cretensis''. The cultivar 'Mary Barnard' has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

Chemistry

In 2013, a chemical analysis study was carried on '' Iris loczyi'' and ''Iris unguicularis'' as both plants are known as medicinally important. The rhizome of ''Iris unguicularis'' contains 1,3-O-diferuloylsucrose, 5,7-dihydroxy-6-methoxychromone, irilone, 4′,5,7-trihydroxy-6-methoxyflavanone, tectorigenin,

kaempferol Kaempferol (3,4′,5,7-tetrahydroxyflavone) is a natural flavonol, a type of flavonoid, found in a variety of plants and plant-derived foods including kale, beans, tea, spinach, and broccoli. It is also found in propolis extracts. Kaempferol i ...

, 4′,5,7-trihydroxy-3′,8-dimethoxyflavanone, 8-methoxyeriodictyol, hispidulin and

mangiferin Mangiferin is a glucosylxanthone (xanthonoid). This molecule is a glucoside of norathyriol. Natural occurrences Mangiferin was first isolated from the leaves and bark of ''Mangifera indica'' (the mango tree). It can also be extracted from mang ...

.New and Known Constituents from Iris unguicularis and Their Antioxidant Activity. Atta-ur-Rahman, Sumaira Hareem, M. Iqbal Choudhary, Bilge Sener, Ahmed Abbaskhan, Hina Siddiqui, Shazia Anjum, Ilkay Orhan, Ilhan Gurbuz and Filiz Ayanoglu, HeteroCycles, 2010, Special issue, Vol 82, No. 1, pages 813-824,

References

unguicularis Plants described in 1789 Flora of Lebanon {{Iridaceae-stub