''Iris hyrcana'', the Hyrcana iris, 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 classified in the subgenus ''

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'. ...

'' 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, from

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

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 ...

Description

''Iris hyrcana'' has spherical bulbs, that are coated with a solid brown fiberous network. The leaves appear after flowering, it has high stems. In the Northern Hemisphere it blooms in the winter, between November and January, or sometimes in February. The flowers are around wide. The flowers are much smaller than those of other Reticulata irises. Like other irises, it has two pairs of petals, three large sepals (outer petals), known as the "falls", and three 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". They come in shades of blue, from clear blue, to dark blue and purple. The falls have a bright yellow ridge, or orange mark.

Biochemistry

As most irises are diploid, 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 was counted as 2n=20,

Taxonomy

The specific epithet ''hyrcana'', refers to

Hyrcania Hyrcania () ( el, ''Hyrkania'', Old Persian: 𐎺𐎼𐎣𐎠𐎴 ''Varkâna'',Lendering (1996) Middle Persian: 𐭢𐭥𐭫𐭢𐭠𐭭 ''Gurgān'', Akkadian: ''Urqananu'') is a historical region composed of the land south-east of the Caspian ...

, a historical region composed of the land south-east of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

in modern-day Iran. In 1848, specimens of the plant were originally collected in

. It was described and published in 'Flora Kavkaza' by Alexander Grossheim in 1928. ''Iris hyrcana'' is now an accepted name by the RHS, and it was verified by

United States Department of Agriculture 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 ...

and the Agricultural Research Service on 4 April 2003, then updated on 11 December 2024. It is listed in 1995 in 'Vascular Plants of Russia and adjacent States (the former USSR)' by Czerepanov, S. K. It was once though to be a variant 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 ...

'', except ''Iris hyrcana'' has spherical bulbs where as ''Iris reticulata'' bulbs are drop shaped.

Distribution and habitat

''Iris hyrcana'' 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 ...

areas of western

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 are ...

Range

Originally found in the

Hyrcanian Hyrcania () ( el, ''Hyrkania'', Old Persian: 𐎺𐎼𐎣𐎠𐎴 ''Varkâna'',Lendering (1996) Middle Persian: 𐭢𐭥𐭫𐭢𐭠𐭭 ''Gurgān'', Akkadian: ''Urqananu'') is a historical region composed of the land south-east of the Caspian ...

woods, along the southern coast of the

from

Habitat

It is found growing in the mountains along the Caspian Sea.

Cultivation

It prefers to grow in sunny sites, on rocky soils that dry out completely in summer. As it is not very hardy, but it can withstand strong frosts of short duration. Although it is thought to be best grown in the UK and in America, within a

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 ...

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 ...

, to keep the soils dry. It also needs a dry, summer dormancy of several months. A specimen of ''Iris hyrcana'' won the Farrer Medal at the AGS

Caerleon Caerleon (; cy, Caerllion) is a town and community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman ...

Show, in South Wales, shown by Bob and Rannveig Wallis.

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.David G Spoerke and Susan C. Smolinske

References

Other sources

* Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934–1964. Flora SSSR. ists as I. hyrcana (Woronow) * Mathew, B. 1981. The Iris. 177

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q20720087 hyrcana Plants described in 1928 Flora of the Caucasus Flora of Azerbaijan Flora of Iran