The term "Japanese iris" encompasses three species of Irises cultivated in gardens or growing wild in Japan: ''hanashōbu'' ('' Iris ensata''), ''kakitsubata'' (''

Iris laevigata ''Iris laevigata'', known as Japanese iris, rabbit-ear iris, or shallow-flowered iris (Japanese: カキツバタ), is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae, native to Japan. It is related to other members of ''Iris'' subgenus '' ...

'') and ''ayame'' ('' Iris sanguinea''). Of these three species, ''I. ensata'' is the one most commonly referred to as "Japanese iris" outside Japan. The bluish purple color of the flowers of the Japanese garden iris is an example of the copigmentation phenomenon.

''Hanashōbu''

The grows in the wet land and is the most extensively cultivated variety in Japanese gardens. According to the place where it was cultivated, it is classified into the Edo (Tokyo), Higo (Kumamoto Prefecture), Ise (Mie Prefecture), American (U.S.) and other series. It is extensively grown in gardens throughout the temperate zones. Several

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

have been selected, of which 'Rose Queen' and 'Variegata' have 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 (No ...

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

''Kakitsubata''

The grows in the semi-wet land and is less popular, but is also cultivated extensively. It is a prefectural flower of Aichi Prefecture due to the famous ''

tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the ''Man'yōshū'' (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to distinguish "short poem ...

'' poem which is said to have been written in this area during the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...

, as it appears in '' The Tales of Ise'' by

Ariwara no Narihira was a Japanese courtier and '' waka'' poet of the early Heian period. He was named one of both the Six Poetic Geniuses and the Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses, and one of his poems was included in the ''Ogura Hyakunin Isshu'' collection. He i ...

(note that the beginning syllables are "ka-ki-tsu-ha (ba)-ta"): ''Kakitsubata'' at Ōta Shrine,

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ...

, is a National Natural Treasure. It was already recorded in a ''

'' by Fujiwara Toshinari also in the

''Ayame''

The is the iris typically growing wild on the dry land in Japan.

Characteristics

Note: Sweet flag, called ''shōbu'' () in Japanese, is a plant belonging to the family Acoraceae, genus '' Acorus'', known for its fragrant roots, rather than its flowers.

References

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External links