''Iris cathayensis'' is a beardless

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 ...

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 ...

'', in the subgenus '' Limniris'' and in the series '' Tenuifoliae'' of the genus. 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 ...

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

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 China. It has grey-green leaves, short stems and violet flowers.

Description

''Iris cathayensis'' has a brown, tough, knobbly rhizome. Which has dark red leaf bases (from last seasons leaves).British Iris Society (1997) It has linear, greyish-green, long and 3 – 4 mm wide at blooming time. It later extends up to long and 6mm wide. The tips of the leaves arch over. It has very short flowering stems, long. Sometimes, the stems do not emerge from below ground. It has between 3–4 green, lanceolate, between long and wide, large

spathe In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s (leaves of the flower bud). It has membranous margins, visible mid-vein and pointed end. The flowers are in diameter, and come in shades of violet, in April. 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 falls are narrowly oblanceolate, long and 5mm wide. The standards are also narrowly oblanceolate, long and 5mm wide. It has a 1.5–2 cm long, filiform (thread-like) pedicel, 7–9 cm long perianth tube, 2.8–3.5 cm long stamens, blue anthers and 1.3–1.5 long ovary. It also has long and 3mm wide, linear style branches, the same colour as the petals. After the iris has flowered, it produces a seed capsule (not described) between June and August.

Biochemistry

In 2000, a chemical analysis of 22 species of iris from China was carried out. According to the distribution pattern of

isoflavones Isoflavones are substituted derivatives of isoflavone, a type of naturally occurring isoflavonoids, many of which act as phytoestrogens in mammals. Isoflavones are produced almost exclusively by the members of the bean family, Fabaceae (Leguminosae) ...

in the species, they can be separated into 2 groups. One group contains ''isoflavonoid aglycons'' and the other has ''

glycoside In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. ...

s'' and ''isoflavonoid aglycons''. ''Iris cathayensis'' Migo and ''

Iris mandshurica ''Iris mandshurica'' is a species in the genus ''Iris'', it is also in the subgenus of ''Iris'' and in the ''Psammiris'' section. It is a rhizomatous perennial, it is found in Russia, China, and Korea. It has green sword-like leaves, smooth gre ...

'' Pall. are considered intermediate groups between subgen. ''Limniris'' and ''Iris'' subg. ''Iris''. In 2005, a study was carried out to find out the chemical composition of ''Iris cathayensis''. Using

chromatography In chemical analysis, chromatography is a laboratory technique for the separation of a mixture into its components. The mixture is dissolved in a fluid solvent (gas or liquid) called the ''mobile phase'', which carries it through a system (a ...

and

spectroscopic Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wav ...

methods, as well as others.

Taxonomy

It is written as 华夏鸢尾 in

Chinese script Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

and known as ''hua xia yuan wei'' in China. It has the common name of 'China Iris', or ''Cathay Iris''. 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 ...

''cathayensis'' refers to ''

Cathay Cathay (; ) is a historical name for China that was used in Europe. During the early modern period, the term ''Cathay'' initially evolved as a term referring to what is now Northern China, completely separate and distinct from China, which ...

'', the Anglicized version of "Catai" and an alternative name for China. It was published and described by

Hisao Migo Hisao Migo (御江久夫 ''Migo Hisao'', (See Bunzō Hayata.) 1900–1985) was a Japanese botanist. Hisao Migo was employed at the Shanghai Science Institute from 1933 to 1945 during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai. During his employment at ...

, in the 'Journal of the Shanghai Science Institute' Sect.3 Vol.4 on page 140 in 1939. It was later published in 'Flora of Jiangsu', First Vol. 395, Fig. 712 in 1977.

Distribution and habitat

''Iris cathayensis'' 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 ...

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 ...

areas of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Range

It is found in the

Chinese provinces The provincial level administrative divisions () are the highest-level administrative divisions of China. There are 34 such divisions claimed by the People's Republic of China, classified as 23 provinces (), five autonomous regions of China, au ...

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

, and

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

Habitat

It is found growing on open hillsides and grasslands, and low-altitude mountain meadow slopes.

Cultivation

''Iris cathayensis'' is not common in cultivation in the UK. It prefers to grow in sandy soils. It needs to be kept dry during winter, needing the protection of

bulb frame In agriculture and gardening, a cold frame is a transparent-roofed enclosure, built low to the ground, used to protect plants from adverse weather, primarily excessive cold or wet. The transparent top admits sunlight and prevents heat escape via co ...

s, it only needs water during the growing season.

References

Citations

Other sources

* Mathew, B. 1981. ''The Iris''. 122. * Waddick, J. W. & Zhao Yu-tang. 1992. ''Iris of China''. * Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994–. ''Flora of China'' (English edition).

External links

Many images of Chinese irises including Iris cathayensis

Image of Iris cathayensis
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q10905651 cathayensis Endemic flora of China Flora of Anhui Flora of Hubei Flora of Jiangsu Flora of Zhejiang Garden plants of Asia Plants described in 1939