''Iris kobayashii'' is a beardless iris in the genus '' Iris'', in the subgenus '' Limniris'' and in the series '' Tenuifoliae'' of the genus. It is a rhizomatous

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, from China. It has slightly twisted leaves, short stems and 1 to 2 purple or blue and yellow flowers.

Description

''Iris kobayashii'' has short, tough, woody-like, rhizomes. With strong flesh roots underneath. It has yellowish brown sheaths (to the leaves), which are the remains of last seasons growths. It has linear, slightly twisted (spiral-like), leaves, that are long and 2–3 mm wide. They have pointed ends. It has short flowering stems, that grows up to between long. Sometimes, the stems do not emerge from below ground. It has 2 or 3, green, lanceolate, between long and 8–10 mm 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). The stems hold 1 or 2 terminal (top of stem) flowers, blooming in May. The small flowers are in diameter, are purple or blue and yellow, with markings of opposite colours. 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, known as the 'standards'. The falls are narrowly oblanceolate, 3 cm long and 5mm wide. The standards are erect, narrowly oblanceolate, 2 cm long and 2–3mm wide. It has a 1 cm long pedicel, 4–5 cm long and slender perianth tube, 1.5–1.8 cm long stamens, yellow or purple anthers and a 1 cm long ovary. It also has small style branches. After the iris has flowered, it produces an ellipsoid seed capsule, 2 cm long and 7-8mm wide, with a beaked top and 6 ribs, between June and August.

Taxonomy

It is written as 矮鸢尾 in Chinese script and known as ''ai yuan wei'' in China. It has the common name of ''Dwarf Iris'', or ''Tiny Iris''. Note, that the ''chinese small iris'' is ''

Iris lactea ''Iris lactea'' is a species in the genus ''Iris'', it is also in the subgenus '' Limniris''. and the series ''Ensatae'', it is the only species in the series. The Japanese water iris, ''Iris ensata'', is actually in series '' Laevigatae''. It i ...

'' . 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 ...

''kobayashii'' refers to plant collector 'M. Kobayashi'. It was published and described by Masao Kitagawa in ''The Journal of Japanese Botany'' ix. Pages246-250 in 1933. It was verified by United States Department of Agriculture

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 ...

on 4 April 2003.

Distribution and habitat

''Iris kobayashii'' 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 temperate areas of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Range

It is found in the province of southern

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

, northeastern China, and Manchuria.

Habitat

It is found growing on dry hillsides.

Conservation

, China, it was listed as an endemic vascular species, along with '' Acontium faurieri'', '' Artemisia chienshanica'', '' Betula ceratoptera'', ''

Caragana litwinowii ''Caragana'' is a genus of about 80–100 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to Asia and eastern Europe. They are shrubs or small trees growing tall. They have even-pinnate leaves with small leaflets, and solitary or ...

'', ''

Iris minutoaurea ''Iris minutoaurea'' is a beardless iris in the genus ''Iris'', in the subgenus '' Limniris'' and in the series '' Chinenses'' of the genus. It is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial of eastern Asia, native to China and Korea. It has been natura ...

'', '' Phragmites australis'' and others.Jirí Kolbek, Miroslav Srutek and Elgene E. O. Box (Editor) It is known as an endangered species. In 2007, it was designated by

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

Endangered Red list as ''Critically Endangered''. In 2012, it is still listed as ''Critically Endangered''.

Cultivation

It 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 frames, only needs water during the growing season.

References

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

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q15227596 kobayashii Endemic flora of China Flora of Liaoning Flora of Manchuria Plants described in 1933