Rush iris
Illustration of the Iris juncea by Walter Hood Fitch (Curtis’s Botanical Magazine)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Iridaceae
Genus: Iris
Subgenus: Iris subg. Xiphium
Section: Iris sect. Xiphium
Species:
I. juncea
Binomial name
Iris juncea
Synonyms

Diaphane stylosa Salisb.
Iris mauritanica Ker Gawl.
Xiphion junceum (Poir.) Parl.

Iris juncea (commonly called the rush iris) is a smooth-bulbed bulbous iris species. The name is derived from 'juncea' from the Greek word meaning 'rush-like'.[1]

It was first described by Jean Louis Marie Poiret in 1871.[2] It was then illustrated in Curtis's Botanical Magazine in 1898.[3]

Its flowers are light yellow[4] and fragrant. Normally 2 per stem in summer.[5] It flowers between June and July.[3]

It grows to a height of between 1 and 2 feet.[6] The 3mm wide leaves appear in the autumn and then fade before flowering.[5]

The bulb is reddish-brown in colour.[3]

It can be found in (Algeria and Tunisia) in North Africa,[7] Southern Spain and Sicily.[5]

Other varieties known include;[5]

  • iris juncea var. merimieri (Lynch) Sulphur yellow flowers
  • iris juncea var. numidica (Anon) lemon-yellow flowers (from Africa)[3]
  • iris juncea var. pallida (Lynch) large soft yellow flowers

References

  1. ↑ Stearn, William (1972). A Gardenerer's Dictionary of Plant Names. London: Cassell. p. 184. ISBN 0304937215.
  2. ↑ "Iris juncea Poir". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Richard Lynch The Book of the Iris, p. 160, at Google Books
  4. ↑ "New Garden Plants". Kew Bulletin (25–48): 47. 1890.
  5. 1 2 3 4 James Cullen, Sabina G. Knees, H. Suzanne Cubey (Editors) The European Garden Flora Flowering Plants: A Manual for the Identification, p. 259, at Google Books
  6. ↑ William Robinson (2009). Hardy Flowers. Applewood Books. p. 150. ISBN 978-1429014434.
  7. ↑ Martınez, Jorge; Vargas, Pablo; Luceno, Modesto; Cuadrado, Angeles (13 August 2010). "Evolution of Iris subgenus Xiphium based on chromosome numbers" (PDF). www.rjb.csic.es. Retrieved 1 August 2014.

Media related to Iris juncea at Wikimedia Commons


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