''Iris histrio'', the Syrian iris, 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 ...

'', it is classified in the subgenus ''Hermodactyloides'' and section ''Reticulatae''. It is a

bulbous In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs durin ...

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 wid ...

from

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

, Syria and southern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. It was first collected by Charles Gaillardot in

in 1854. In 1873,

Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach (Dresden, 3 January 1823 – Hamburg, 6 May 1889) was a botanist and the foremost German orchidologist of the 19th century. His father Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach (author of ''Icones Florae Germanicae et Helv ...

(Rchb.f) wrote about the bulb in his 'Botanische Notizen'. This then joined the subspecies of

iris reticulata ''Iris reticulata'', the netted iris or golden netted iris, is a species of flowering plant in the family (biology), family Iridaceae. It is native plant, native from eastern Turkey to Iran, but cultivated widely in temperateness, temperate regio ...

, which has now been grouped with other under the subgenus of

Hermodactyloides The subgenus ''Hermodactyloides'' of Iris includes all reticulate-bulbed bulbous irises. It was formerly named as a genus, ''Iridodictyum'' by Rodionenko in 1961. but it was not widely accepted and most botanists preferred 'Hermodactyloides'. ...

. It is commonly known as the Syrian iris.

Donald Wyman Donald Wyman (1904 — 6 December 1993) was an American horticulturist, the head of horticulture at Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum from 1935 to 1970. He took a bachelor's degree in horticulture from Pennsylvania State College (1926) and a m ...

''Iris histrio'' is an accepted name by the RHS. It has baby blue flowers with intricate markings, shading to purplish blue at the base. Like other members of the ''Reticulatae'' group, such as '' Iris vartanii'' and '' Iris danfordiae'', it throws out a very large number of small bulbils round the base of the bulb. If these are planted separately in a reserve ground, they will develop into flowering bulbs in the course of two or three years. Seedlings of I. vartani certainly, and of I. histrio normally needs protection at all times, especially in the UK. It can grow in loamy soils.

Native

Originally located in

. It can also be found in

, Syria and as far west as southern

. It's a commonly found plant in Lebanon compared to '' Iris sofarana'' and '' Iris cedreti'' which are considered to be highly threatened species in Lebanon.

Subspecies

''Iris histrio'' has been separated into two subspecies by Mathew (1989) as subsp. histrio and subsp. aintabensis because of variations in leaf, perigon tube and segment measurements. ''Iris histrio'' subsp. ''aintabensis'' has pale smaller blue flowers that are splashed darker on the falls and with a yellow or orange ridge. It is reported to be easier to grow than the species. Also known as ''Iris histrio var. aintabensis''. It was found in the rocky scrublands of southern Turkey, in the

Gaziantep Gaziantep (), previously and still informally called Aintab or Antep (), is a major city and capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region, approxi ...

-Maras region. ''Iris histrio'' subsp. ''atropurpurea'' (Dykes) has purple flowers but with no markings on the falls. Found in 1913. This is now thought, to be a synonym of

Iris reticulata ''Iris reticulata'', the netted iris or golden netted iris, is a species of flowering plant in the family (biology), family Iridaceae. It is native plant, native from eastern Turkey to Iran, but cultivated widely in temperateness, temperate regio ...

var. reticulata.

References

Other sources

* Czerepanov, S. K. 1995. Vascular plants of Russia and adjacent states (the former USSR). * Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934–1964. Flora SSSR. * Mathew, B. 1981. The Iris. 179.

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1823294

histrio The sargassum fish, anglerfish, or frog fish (''Histrio histrio'') is a frogfish of the family Antennariidae, the only species in its genus. It lives among ''Sargassum'' seaweed which floats in subtropical oceans. The scientific name comes f ...

Plants described in 1861 Flora of Western Asia