Biology:Iris albomarginata

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Short description: Species of flowering plant

Iris albomarginata
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Iridaceae
Genus: Iris
Subgenus: Iris subg. Scorpiris
Section: Iris sect. Scorpiris
Species:
I. albomarginata
Binomial name
Iris albomarginata
Foster
Synonyms[1]
  • (Regel) Poljakov Regel
  • F.O.Khass. & Rakhimova Iris coerulea
  • Iris caucasica var. coerulea B.Fedtsch.
  • Juno coerulea Iris fedtschenkoi

Iris albomarginata is a species in the genus Iris, in the subgenus Scorpiris. It is a bulbous perennial, from the mountains in the former Russian states of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Description

It has bright blue flowers with a white crest. It sometimes has yellow marks on the crest.[2] The falls area white with a yellow centre.[3]

It has 2-5 flowers on a short stem.[4]

It flowers in March–April.[2]

It has smooth dark green leaves between 1 and 2 cm wide[2] and the plant reaches 30 cm (1 ft) in height.[4] It also has a bright white edging to all the leaves.[5] The stem is just visible behind the leaves.[3]

Taxonomy

It was first described by (Russian botanist Boris Fedtschenko) in Bulletin de l'Herbier Boissier, page 917 in 1904. But it was called Iris coerulea. When Foster was working on irises, he found that Iris coerulea was used to name an Iris pumila hybrid. He then renamed the iris as Iris albomarginata because the leaves of the iris had a white edging. This edging was a characteristic of several of the species in the Scorpiris subgenus section of irises.[5]

It was then re-published as Iris albomarginata in 'Contributions from the Gray Herbarium' of Harvard University in 1936.[6]

Iris albomarginata is an accepted name by the RHS.[7]

Native

Found in Central Asia (within the Tien Shan and Fergana mountains)[2] and the Alayskiy in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.[3] It is found on the clay and stone foothills at 2000m above sea level.[2]

Cultivation

It is hardy to USDA Zone: 4.[3] In the UK, it is better grown in an Alpine house or bulb frame.[2]

Several specimens can be found in Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.[8]

Propagation

Irises can generally be propagated by division,[9] or by seed growing.

Toxicity

Like many other irises, most parts of the plant are poisonous (rhizome and leaves), if mistakenly ingested can cause stomach pains and vomiting. Also handling the plant may cause a skin irritation or an allergic reaction.[10]

References

External links

Wikidata ☰ Q15570065 entry