''Iris minutoaurea'' is a beardless

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 ...

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 ...

'', in the subgenus '' Limniris'' and in the series '' Chinenses'' of the genus. 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 ho ...

herbaceous

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 ...

of eastern

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 ...

, native to China and Korea. It has been naturalized in Japan. It has long grassy-like leaves, short stem and bright yellow or pale yellow 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 ...

regions.

Description

''Iris minutoaurea'' can sometimes be mistaken for '' Iris henryi'' (another yellow flowering Chinese iris). But they differ is sizes of pedicel (flower stalk) and perianth tube. ''Iris henryi'' has a short perianth tube and long pedicel, while with ''Iris minutoaurea'' it is the other way around. It has a yellowish brown, slender, wiry, rhizome, measuring about long and wide, that produces many branches and stolons.British Iris Society (1997) This branching habit forms clumps of plants. In autumn, the roots (under the rhizomes), produce small nodules. These are used to fix

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

, from the soil. It has grassy, linear, ribbed, long and wide leaves. They appear in early March, they then elongate after flowering up to long, reaching a maximum height by June. This elongating leaf habit is also shared by ''Iris koreana''. It has a very short, slender flowering stem, only long. It has one terminal (at the top of the stem) flower, in spring to early summer, in April or May. It has 2 lanceolate (lance-like) long and wide,

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), that are acuminate (ending in a point). The small flowers come in yellow shades. Between bright yellow and pale yellow. The flowers are in diameter. Which can be compared to the size of a

quarter A quarter is one-fourth, , 25% or 0.25. Quarter or quarters may refer to: Places * Quarter (urban subdivision), a section or area, usually of a town Placenames * Quarter, South Lanarkshire, a settlement in Scotland * Le Quartier, a settlement ...

. It has 2 pairs of petals, 3 large sepals (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 drooping obovate (egg-like) falls, measuring long and wide, have brown or purple marks (dots or lines) on the hafts and in the centre of the petal. The smaller, paler (in colour) narrow, upright standards are between long and wide, with brown/purple petal stalks. It has a slender, long perianth tube. It has slender 1.5–2.5 cm pedicel (flower stalk), 1 cm long stamens and yellow-brown anthers. It has long ovary and long wide, style branches similar in colour to the standards. After the iris has flowered, it produces a globose (spherical) seed capsule between June and July.

Biochemistry

The effect of forcing date and temperature on growth and flowering of '' Iris koreana'' and ''Iris minutoaurea'' has been examined in 2007. 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 has been counted twice, 2n=22, Simonet, in 1934; syn. ''Iris savatieri'' Nakai and 2n=26, Lee in 1970. It is normally listed as 2n=22.

Taxonomy

It is written as 小黄花鸢尾 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 ''xiao huang hua yuan wei'' in China. It is written as 금붓꽃 in

Korean script The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

. It has the common names of ''small yellow-flower iris'' in Chinese English. The Latin specific epithet ''minutoaurea'' refers to the combination of 2 Latin names, ''minuto'' refers to very small (or minute) and ''aurea'' refers to yellow. Making 'Small yellow blossoms'. It was originally published as ''Iris minuta'' by Franchet and Savatier in 'Enumeratio Plantarum in Japonia Sponte Crescentium' 2: Vol.42 page521 in 1877. It was later illustrated as ''Iris minute'' in Curtis Botanical Magazine Issue 8293 in 1910. Later, ''Iris minuta'' was regarded as a synonym of 'Iris minutoaurea'' and first published and described by

Tomitaro Makino 200px, Tomitaro Makino was a pioneer Japanese botanist noted for his taxonomic work. He has been called "Father of Japanese Botany". He was one of the first Japanese botanists to work extensively on classifying Japanese plants using the system ...

in the 'Journal of Japanese Botany', (Shokubutsu Kenkyu Zasshi) from Tokyo Vol.17 in 1928. Iris minutoaurea is an accepted name by the RHS. 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 ...

Agricultural Research Service on 9 January 2003.

Distribution and habitat

Iris minutoaurea is native to the temperate regions of eastern

. It has a wider geographical area than ''Iris odaesanensis''.

Range

It can be found on the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, and in Liaoning Province of northeastern China. It is also found on Gyebangsan Mountain in South Korea. It has been naturalized in Japan.

Habitat

It grows on forest margins and grassy hillsides.

Conservation

It has been listed in the flora of

vascular plants Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They ...

in the Chilgapsan Provincial Park of Korea. It was listed as 'least concern' on the

Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...

of vascular plants according to IUCN on Mt. Gilsangsan in Korea. Also listed as 'least concern' on the list of Jeju Island in Korea. It has also been listed as growing on Deokjeokdo. In Liaoning, China, it was listed as an endemic

vascular The blood vessels are the components of the circulatory system that transport blood throughout the human body. These vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to the tissues of the body. They also take waste and carbon dioxide away f ...

species, along with '' Acontium faurieri'', '' Artemisia chienshanica'', '' Betula ceratoptera'', '' Caragana litwinowii'', '' Iris kobayashii'', ''

Phragmites australis ''Phragmites australis'', known as the common reed, is a species of plant. It is a broadly distributed wetland grass that can grow up to tall. Description ''Phragmites australis'' commonly forms extensive stands (known as reed beds), which may ...

'' and others.Jirí Kolbek, Miroslav Srutek and Elgene E. O. Box (Editor)

Cultivation

''Iris minutoaurea'' has been cultivated in UK, but it is rare, and considered difficult to grow. It is also rare in Europe. It has also, been cultivated in the US but is thought difficult to get it to bloom.Elizabeth Lawrence It is much easier to grow in Japan, where it has been cultivated for many centuries. It is hardy to Zone H2 (which means hardy to −15 to-20 °C (5 to −4 °F ), in Europe.Stuart Max Walters (Editor) James Cullen, Sabina G. Knees, H. Suzanne Cubey (Editors) Although, it has survived in temperatures as low as −29 °C in France. It will be difficult to get to flower in areas of cool summers. It can be grown in 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 ...

to survive a cold winter or over-watering. It likes to grow in humus-rich, well-drained, neutral to acidic soils. It prefers positions in full sun but may tolerate part shade. It does not like positions that get a lot of water, preferring well drained, rock gardens and scree-like slopes. It can be propagated by

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

. They need to be divided when ever the clumps of plants get congested and it stops blooming. It is best planted in September or March. The iris is untouched or undamaged by

slugs Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a sma ...

References

Other sources

*Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. minutaurea" *Mathew, B. 1981. The Iris. 79–80. *Waddick, J. W. & Zhao Yu-tang. 1992. Iris of China. *Walters, S. M. et al., eds. 1986–. European garden flora. *Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994–. Flora of China (English edition).

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q11035771 minutoaurea Flora of Korea Flora of Liaoning Flora of Manchuria Garden plants of Asia Plants described in 1928