Iris boissieri

Iris boissieri
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Iridaceae
Subfamily: Iridoideae
Tribe: Irideae
Genus: Iris
Subgenus: Xiphium
Species: Iris boissieri
Binomial name
Iris boissieri
Henriq
Synonyms
  • Iris diversifolia (Merino)
  • Xiphion boissieri (Henrinq.) Rodion [1]
  • Iris heterophylla Merino[2]

Iris boissieri (also known as the 'Yellowbeard Iris')[2] is a species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus of Xiphium.

Named after Edmond Boissier (a Swiss botanist 1810-1885).[3]

In 1877, Mr A.W. Tait (from Porto, Portugal) sent the bulbs to Sir Michael Foster who grew them in the UK. It was first described in 1885 by Portuguese botanist Julio Augusto Henriques in Boletim da Sociedade Broteriana Vols. 1-28.[4]

It was also described by Mr Foster in 'The Gardeners' Chronicles' of 1887, vol. ii. page38.[2] It was then described in Curtis's Botanical Magazine 7097 in 1890 again by Mr Foster.[5]

Habit

It is the only bearded iris in the 'Xiphion' subsection.[6]

It flowers in June.[5] It normally has only one flower per stem.[7] The flower is blue-purple (or deep purple),[7] with a yellow[6] or orange beard.[5] It grows between 30 and 40 cm tall. The leaves appear in spring.[6]

It is best grown in a bulb frame.[6]

It was on the 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants.[1][8]

There is a specimen in the Kew herbarium, collected by Winkler in 1876.[2] There is also a specimen in the 'Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques' in Genève, collected in 1899.[9]

Emily Jean Stevens (1900–1967) was a hybriser of Iris boissier and 'Iris juncea' in the 1950s.[10]

Native

Originally found on Serra do Gerês (a mountain in Portugal). Some bulbs were also found in Northern Portugal and Northwest Spain.[6] It occupies a small area of the Iberian Peninsula.[1]

It likes to grows in rocky shallow soils,[1] at an altitude of 2 - 3 thouseand feet above sea level.[2]

Very few plants (less than a 1000) were found in Spain in 2004 and less than a 10,000 plants were found in Portugal. Also these numbers were gradually going down as well. It is now [1]

Iris boissieri is listed on Annex IV of the Habitats Directive (of the European Union). It is therefore assessed as 'Critically Endangered'.[11]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Iris boissieri". iucnredlist.org. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "(SPEC) Iris boissieri Henriques". wiki.irises.org (American Iris Society). Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  3. ↑ Stearn, William (1972). A Gardenerer's Dictionary of Plant Names. London: Cassell. ISBN 0304937215.
  4. ↑ "Iris boissieri Henriq". apps.kew.org. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lynch, RichardThe Book of the Iris, p. 161, at Google Books
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Cassidy, G.E.; Linnegar, S. (1987). Growing Irises (Revised ed.). Bromley: Christopher Helm. pp. 144–145. ISBN 0-88192-089-4.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 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
  8. ↑ Kerry Scott Walter, Harriet J. Gillett (Editors) 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants, p. 678, at Google Books
  9. ↑ "History: Type of Iris boissieri Henriq. [family IRIDACEAE]". plants.jstor.org. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  10. ↑ "Stevens, Emily Jean". www.teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  11. ↑ "Species of the Day – Iris boissieri". natureology101.wordpress.com. 9 December 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2014.

External links

Media related to Iris boissieri at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Iris boissieri at Wikispecies