''Iris benacensis'' is a plant species in the genus ''

Iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

'', it is also in the subgenus ''

''. It 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 ...

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

, from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It has similar sized leaves and stem, and blue-purple shaded flowers, that have a white, blue and yellow beard. It was once classified as a synonym of ''

Iris aphylla ''Iris aphylla'' (also known as leafless iris, table iris or stool iris) is a species in the genus ''Iris'', it is also in the subgenus ''Iris'', and in the section ''Iris''. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from Asia to Europe. It is found in Azer ...

'', before being re-classified as a species in its own right, although some sources still call it a synonym. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

regions.

Description

It is similar in form to ''Iris aphylla'', but differs in flower form. It has stout and creeping rhizomes.Richard Lynch The leaves can grow up to less than long. It has a slender stem, that can grow up to tall, the stem is just longer than the leaves. The stem has lanceolate spathes (leaves of the flower bud), that are tinted with purple. They have (scarious) membranous tips, when the plants are in flower. The stems hold terminal (top of stem) flowers, blooming early season, between May and June. Like other irises, it has 2 pairs of petals, 3 large

sepals A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

(outer petals), known as the 'falls' and 3 inner, smaller petals (or

tepals A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

), known as the 'standards'. The flowers are in diameter, measuring from the tip of the fall to that of a standard. They come in shades of blue-purple, The falls are narrow, obovate, long and wide. It has a white section beneath the

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

, that is crossed with purple lines. In the centre of the fall, is a dense beard of white hairs that are slightly tipped with blue in front and yellow behind. The standards are oblong, long and wide. It has a perianth tube is long. It has shorter

anthers The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

than filaments, with blue

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...

. It also has style arms that are long, with deltoid shaped crests. After the iris has flowered, it produces a seed capsule and seeds, that have not been described.

Genetics

In 1956, a

karyotype A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of metaphase chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is disce ...

analysis was carried out on 40 species of Iris, belonging to the subgenera Eupogoniris and Pogoniris. It found that the 40-chromosome dwarf species, such as ''Iris benacensis'', have in their somatic complement 16 chromosomes morphologically very similar to those of ''

Iris pseudopumila ''Iris pseudopumila'' is a perennial plant with violet, purple, or yellow flowers, sometimes in combination. The beards are white, yellow, or bluish white. Native to southern Italy.Donald Wyman Donald Wyman (1904 — 6 December 1993) was an Ameri ...

''. In 2008, a genetic and morphological study was carried out on ''Iris aphylla'' populations in Italy. Some populations (in

Piemonte it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

) were re-classified as ''

Iris perrieri ''Iris perrieri'' is a plant species in the genus '' Iris''; it is also in the subgenus '' Iris''. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from the Savoy Alps in southern France and recently in Italy. It has green, deeply ribbed, sickle shaped leaves, a ...

'' and plants labelled as ''Iris benacensis'' were not either ''Iris perrieri'' or ''Iris aphylla''. In 2012, a study was carried out on the flora of Italy, using Ellenberg's Indicator values. As most irises are

diploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, respectively ...

, having two sets of

chromosomes A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...

, this can be used to identify hybrids and classification of groupings. It has a chromosome count: 2n=40.

Taxonomy

In Italy, it is known as 'Giaggiolo del Garda'. The Latin

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''benacensis'' refers to

Lake Garda Lake Garda ( it, Lago di Garda or ; lmo, label=Eastern Lombard, Lach de Garda; vec, Ƚago de Garda; la, Benacus; grc, Βήνακος) is the largest lake in Italy. It is a popular holiday location in northern Italy, about halfway between ...

in northern Italy, which was known to the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

as 'Benacus'. It is also used by '' Romanogobio benacensis'', a fish from Slovenia and Italy. A specimen was collected by Anton Kerner von Marilaun in 1887 in south

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

, Italy. A herbarium specimen was collected in Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy, by (collector) Anton Kerner von Marilaun. It was described by A.Kern. in Verhandlungen der Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft' in

Wien en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Vienna, (Verh. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien) on page 649 in 1887. In 1892, it was then widely published by Stapf. in 'Handbook of the Irideae' in London, (Handb. Irid.) Vol.35. It was later re-classified as a synonym of ''Iris aphylla'', by

William Rickatson Dykes William Rickatson Dykes (4 November 1877 – 1 December 1925) was an English amateur botanist who became an expert in the field of iris breeding and wrote several influential books on the subject. He was also interested in tulips, amaryllis, ...

. It was also thought to be also included as a subspecies of ''

Iris cengialti ''Iris pallida'' subsp. ''cengialti'' is a subspecies in the genus ''Iris'', it is also in the subgenus ''Iris''. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from Italy and (part of the former country of Yugoslavia) Slovenia. It has yellowish-green, glaucous ...

''. Before being separated again as a species in its own right in 2008. It has not been verified by

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

and the

Agricultural Research Service The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area. ARS is charged with ext ...

as of 9 September 2015. It is listed in the

Encyclopedia of Life The ''Encyclopedia of Life'' (''EOL'') is a free, online encyclopedia intended to document all of the 1.9 million living species known to science. It is compiled from existing trusted databases curated by experts and with the assistance of non ...

. ''Iris benacensis'' is not yet an accepted name by the RHS.

Distribution and habitat

It is

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to Europe.

Range

It is found in Italy, within the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

, and

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and ...

It is also found near Lago di Garda (or Lake Garda) and Mt. Brione,(near the town of

Riva del Garda Riva del Garda (''Rìva'' in local dialect) is a town and ''comune'' in the northern Italian province of Trento of the Trentino Alto Adige region. It is also known simply as ''Riva'' and is located at the northern tip of Lake Garda. History Riv ...

) and Mount Cengialti.

Habitat

It grows on

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcareous'' is used as an adje ...

(containing lime or chalk) rocks. They can be found at an altitude of up to above sea level.

Conservation

Triangolo lariano The ''Triangolo lariano'' is a geographic area in Lombardy, Italy within the Province of Como. It is represented by a territorial intermediate institution named '' Comunità montana del Triangolo lariano'', with a base in Canzo. Topography ...

Province of Como The Province of Como ( it, Provincia di Como; german: Provinz Como; Comasco: ) is a province in the north of the Lombardy region of Italy and borders the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Grigioni to the North, the Italian provinces of Sondrio and Le ...

, Italy has a 'Flora Protected List' since 24 July 2008 on Annex C1 is ''

Iris pallida ''Iris pallida'', the Dalmatian iris or sweet iris, is a hardy flowering perennial plant of the genus '' Iris'', family Iridaceae. It is native to the Dalmatian coast (Croatia) but widely naturalised elsewhere. It is a member of the subgenus '' I ...

'', ''

Iris pseudacorus ''Iris pseudacorus'', the yellow flag, yellow iris, or water flag, is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae. It is native to Europe, western Asia and northwest Africa. Its specific epithet ''pseudacorus'' means "false acorus", re ...

'' and '' Iris sibirica''. On Annex C2 is ''Iris benacensis'' and '' Iris graminea''. Some specimens can be found in nature area near Largo di Gardo which includes Mount Cengialti and Mount Brione.

Cultivation

It is hardy to

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

Zone 8. It needs medium to high light conditions and temperatures It is thought to be easy to grow, and worthy of being cultivated (used in the garden). worthy of cultivation A herbarium specimen can be found at

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

, Austria within the 'Institute for Botany'.

Toxicity

Like many other irises, most parts of the plant are poisonous (rhizome and leaves), and if mistakenly ingested can cause stomach pains and vomiting. Handling the plant may cause skin irritation or an allergic reaction.David G Spoerke and Susan C. Smolinske

References

External links

*
Various images of the iris in flower in a botanical garden, Italy
{{Taxonbar, from=Q17235603 benacensis Endemic flora of Italy Garden plants of Europe Plants described in 1887