''Iris fosteriana'' is a 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 ...

'', subgenus '' Scorpiris''. Berne Botanic garden Iris fosteriana

It was named after Michael Foster (a known British Iris expert) by Dr Aitchison, and found in Pendjeh,

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

. First described in transactions of the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

in April 1888 and then published by

John Gilbert Baker John Gilbert Baker (13 January 1834 – 16 August 1920) was an English botanist. His son was the botanist Edmund Gilbert Baker (1864–1949). Biography Baker was born in Guisborough in North Yorkshire, the son of John and Mary (née Gilbert ...

Botanical Magazine ''The Botanical Magazine; or Flower-Garden Displayed'', is an illustrated publication which began in 1787. The longest running botanical magazine, it is widely referred to by the subsequent name ''Curtis's Botanical Magazine''. Each of the issue ...

in 1892. Iris fosteriana is an accepted name by the RHS. It has many similarities with other iris species in the Xiphium.

Habit

It has a slim bulb (coloured cream) with a long thin neck. Below the bulb are tuberous roots that are white, thin and 6in long. The fragile roots mean that the bulb does not take

transplanting In agriculture and gardening, transplanting or replanting is the technique of moving a plant from one location to another. Most often this takes the form of starting a plant from seed in optimal conditions, such as in a greenhouse or protected ...

very well. In Spring, (March in the UK) it has 1 or 2 long tubed flowers that are 4–5 cm (1.5 or 2in) wide with downward-turned rich purple (or deep purple) standards and creamy yellow (or pale yellow) falls. The flowers do not produce any scent. After flowering, it produces seeds, but there is no aril (coating) on the seed. The seeds are cube-shaped. It has deeply channeled mid-green leaves which have a silver edge. Which start growing in early December. By March, they have turned grey near the base, and mid-green at the tops. They reach between 4-8mm wide and grow up to 18 cm long. The leaves when mature hide the stem. The plant reaches a total height of approximately 10–15 cm tall when in bloom. Best grown in the uk, in an

alpine house A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These s ...

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 c ...

Native

Found in the sandy soils of Gulran,

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, at an altitude of about 4,000 feet. It is also found on the dry steppes (750-2000m above sea level) of North East

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, near

Kopet Dag The Köpet Dag, Kopet Dagh, or Koppeh Dagh ( tk, Köpetdag; fa, کپه‌داغ), also known as the Turkmen-Khorasan Mountain Range, is a mountain range on the border between Turkmenistan and Iran that extends about along the border southeast o ...

mountain range. Which also includes the former Russian state of Turkmenistan.Czerepanov, S. K. (3 Dec 2007)

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15570912 fosteriana Plants described in 1888 Flora of Afghanistan Flora of Iran Flora of Turkmenistan Taxa named by John Gilbert Baker Taxa named by James Edward Tierney Aitchison