''Iris leptophylla'' 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 enti ...

'', it is also in the subgenus ''

'' and in the section ''Pseudoregelia''. 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 ...

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 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 ...

. It has thin, long grey-green leaves, long slender stem and 2 fragrant purple, blue-purple, violet or lavender pink flowers. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in

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 ...

regions.

Description

It has a thick rhizome, which is swollen and tuber-like. It is between 1.2 – 1.5 cm in diameter, and brown or grey-brown in colour. Under the rhizome are fibrous secondary roots, which are yellow-white. On top of the rhizome, are the brown fibrous remains of last seasons leaves. They emit an odour. The rhizomes grow slowly. It has thin, linear leaves, that are greyish green, with a distinct rib (or midvein) and acuminate (pointed) end. They can grow up to between long, and between 0.2 and 1 cm wide. They appear in April. It has a slender stem, about 2 mm in diameter, that can grow up to between tall. The stem has 3 or 4 green, lanceolate spathes (leaves of the flower bud). They are between long and between 1 and 1.8 cm wide. They also have a distinct rib (or midvein) and (scarious) membranous edges. The stems hold between 2 or 3 terminal (top of stem) flowers, blooming in late spring to early summer, between April to May, or from May to June (in Europe). The fragrant flowers, (with a primrose-like fragrance,) are in diameter, they come in shades of purple, including blue-purple, violet, lavender pink. It has very short

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

s, and a flared, perianth tube of long, and up to 1.5 cm in diameter. 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 obovate or spatulate (spoon-like) shaped, long and 2 cm wide. In the centre of the petal is a yellow, or white beard. They also have a dissected yellow crest. The erect standards are lanceolate, long and between 0.5–1 cm wide. It has

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s that are between 1, to 4 cm long. It also has white

anthers The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

. The light blue,

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

branches are about 4.5 cm long, with blue and white stripes. After the iris has flowered, between May to June, or May to July. it produces an ovoid, or cylindric seed capsule. Which is 4 cm long and 1.3 cm wide, with an acute point, and 6 prominent veins. It dehisces (splits open) laterally, to reveal pear shaped, dark brown seeds, with a brown

aril An aril (pronounced ), also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode or false aril is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the see ...

(appendage).

Biochemistry

In 2003, a study was carried out the rhizomes of ''Iris leptophylla'', 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 recrystallization. It found eight compounds (including 5 flavonoids), 'tectorigenin irisflorentin' (I), 'tectorigenin irilone' (II), wild Tectoridin iridin (III), Tectoridin tectoridin (IV), Tectoridin irilone-4'-glucoside (V), the last three compounds were daucosterol (VI), β- sitosterol (VII), octadecyl acid (VIII). In February 2007, a

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 ...

chemical compound study was carried out on the rhizomes of ''Iris leptophylla'', it found several

isoflavonoid Isoflavonoids are a class of flavonoid phenolic compounds, many of which are biologically active. Isoflavonoids and their derivatives are sometimes referred to as phytoestrogens, as many isoflavonoid compounds have biological effects via the estro ...

glucosides A glucoside is a glycoside that is derived from glucose. Glucosides are common in plants, but rare in animals. Glucose is produced when a glucoside is hydrolysed by purely chemical means, or decomposed by fermentation or enzymes. The name was o ...

, including irisleptophyllidin, (C₂₄H₂₄O₁₂ ,) nigricanin, irifloside and

irigenin Irigenin is an O-methylated isoflavone, a type of flavonoid. It can be isolated from the rhizomes of the leopard lily (''Belamcanda chinensis''), and ''Iris kemaonensis''. Jiaju Zhou, Guirong Xie and Xinjian Yan Glycosides Iridin is the 7-gluc ...

. In 2009, a

karyotype A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of metaphase chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is disce ...

analysis was carried out on 10 Irises found in China, it found the chromosome counts. As most irises are

diploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, respectively ...

, 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 has a chromosome count of 2n=26.

Taxonomy

It is written as 薄叶鸢尾 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 ''bo ye yuan wei'' in

Pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from s ...

. It is commonly known as 'thin-leaf iris' (in China). 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 ...

''leptophylla'' refers to leptophyllus -a -um fine- or slender-leaved. The iris was originally collected by Hans Wolfgang Limpricht on 18 April 1914 in

Wenchuan Wenchuan County is a county in Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, People's Republic of China. The county has an area of , and a population of 100,771 as of 2010. Wolong National Nature Reserve is a protected area located in ...

, of

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

in China. It was then first published and described by

Alexander von Lingelsheim Alexander von Lingelsheim (27 September 1874, in Arolsen – 5 March 1937, in Breslau) was a German botanist and pharmacist. He studied natural sciences at the University of Breslau, and for many years he worked as an assistant in its botanica ...

in 'Repertorium Specierum Novarum Regni Vegetabilis', Beihefte. (Edited by Friedrich Fedde) (Fedd. Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih.) Vol.12 on page 325 in 1922. It was originally placed within the ''Nepalensis subgenus'' by

Brian Mathew Brian Frederick Mathew MBE, VMH is a British botanist, born in the village of Limpsfield, Surrey, England. His particular area of expertise is bulbous plants, particularly ornamental bulbous plants, although he has contributed to other fields o ...

, but later it was suggested it should be placed in the 'Pseudoregelia Section' by Dr David Cutler of

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society Vol.90 pages253-303 in 1985. It was verified by

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

and the

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 9 January 2003, then updated on 6 January 2005. It is listed in the

Encyclopedia of Life The ''Encyclopedia of Life'' (''EOL'') is a free, online encyclopedia intended to document all of the 1.9 million living species known to science. It is compiled from existing trusted databases curated by experts and with the assistance of non ...

. ''Iris leptophylla'' is a tentatively accepted name by the RHS.

Distribution and habitat

It 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 Asia.

Range

It is found in China, within the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

of Sichuan, and

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...

(or Gansu).

Habitat

It grows on the edges of forests, in grassland and meadows, on hillsides and rocky slopes. They can be found at an altitude of above sea level.

Conservation

''Iris leptophylla'' is an endangered plant.

Cultivation

It prefers to be grown in well-drained soils, (with grit and

humus In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Lati ...

), in full sun. But it can tolerate partial shade. It is not hardy in the UK, so needs to be grown within an alpine house or bulb frame. In milder positions, (including some parts of Europe) it can be grown in a rock garden. A

Herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

specimen exists in the Department of Botany within the

Swedish Museum of Natural History The Swedish Museum of Natural History ( sv, Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, literally, the National Museum of Natural History), in Stockholm, is one of two major museums of natural history in Sweden, the other one being located in Gothenburg. The ...

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

Uses

The rhizomes of the plant can be used in herbal medicines to be used as a

laxative Laxatives, purgatives, or aperients are substances that loosen stools and increase bowel movements. They are used to treat and prevent constipation. Laxatives vary as to how they work and the side effects they may have. Certain stimulant, lubri ...

. The rhizomes also contain as isoflavone (containing a scent) which is used in

perfumery Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...

References

Sources

* Mathew, B. 1981. The Iris. 203. * 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

has black and white illustration of the iris from a journal
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q15251420 leptophylla Endemic flora of China Flora of Sichuan Flora of Guangxi Garden plants of Asia Plants described in 1922 Medicinal plants of Asia