''Iris narbutii'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

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 ...

'', subgenus ''Scorpiris''. 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 wide ...

from Central Asia. It has dark green leaves, short stems, spring flowers in shades of greenish-yellow to pale violet.

Description

''Iris narbutii'' has a brown bulb with papery tunic, the bulb is approx. in diameter. It has thickened roots, which look similar to fat short pointed tubers. The thin, channelled dark green leaves emerge before the flowers, they are 5–25 mm wide (close to the base of the plant). They gradually narrow to an apex (falcate-like or lanceolate), and have a very visible white edging/margin. One of the shorter Juno irises, similar to '' Iris leptorrhiza'', only growing to a height of . It blooms in early-mid spring, flowering between January to April depending on the weather conditions. It has 1 or 2 scentless flowers per bulb stem. The flowers come in a range of shades between greenish-yellow to pale violet. The green-purple perianth tube is about long. It has standards () that hang downwards. It has falls that start upright, but then the blade bends downwards, with a dark violet blotch at the tip. They have a raised white crest surrounded by a yellow zone/area. The yellow zone can sometimes have a dark purple ring around it. It has whitish pollen.

Taxonomy

It is sometimes misspelt as 'Iris narbuti'. It was first published as ''Juno narbutii'' by

Olga Fedtschenko Olga Aleksandrovna Fedchenko or Fedtschenko ( Armfeld; 30 October 1845 – 24 April 1921) was a Russian botanist. '' Rosa fedtschenkoana'', which is found in Asia, was named in her honour (with a German transliteration of her name). Early life O ...

in 'Izvestiya Imperatorskago Obscestva Ljubitelej Estestvoznanija, Antropologii i Etnografii, Sostojascago pri (Imperatorskom) Moskovskom Universitete' in 1902. It was later published as ''Iris narbutii'' by

Boris Fedtschenko Boris Alexeevich Fedtschenko (27 December 1872 – 29 September 1947) was a Russian plant pathologist and botanist. He is primarily known for his work on various regions of Russia, especially the Caucasus, Siberia and Asiatic Russia. He was ...

in Bull. Jard. Bot. St. Petersb. Vol.V on page 157 in 1905. ''Iris narbutii'' is now an accepted name by the RHS. It is listed in 1995 in 'Vascular plants of Russia and adjacent states (the former USSR)' by Czerepanov, S. K. It may have been named after 'Narbuta Beg'(1774-1798), a grandson of 'Abd al-Karim' (

Khanate of Kokand The Khanate of Kokand ( fa, ; ''Khānneshin-e Khoqand'', chg, ''Khoqand Khānligi'') was a Central Asian polity in the Fergana Valley centred on the city of Kokand between 1709 and 1876. Its territory is today divided between Uzbekistan, Ky ...

) of the

Fergana Valley The Fergana Valley (; ; ) in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan. Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the ...

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 ...

, where the iris was found.

Native

''Iris narbutii'' is from Central Asia. Originally found on the slopes of Syr-Darya river valley. It is found on the rocky, gravelly slopes of the mountains of western

Tien Shan The Tian Shan,, , otk, 𐰴𐰣 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃, , tr, Tanrı Dağı, mn, Тэнгэр уул, , ug, تەڭرىتاغ, , , kk, Тәңіртауы / Алатау, , , ky, Теңир-Тоо / Ала-Тоо, , , uz, Tyan-Shan / Tangritog‘ ...

and southern

Pamir Mountains The Pamir Mountains are a mountain range between Central Asia and Pakistan. It is located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among the world ...

. Also seen near to

Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...

and

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

. Olga Fedtschenko had speculated that the plants from west Tien Shan, could be a separate species, due to their paler colour. In Chulbair Mountains,

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

, it is a threatened species and close to extinction.

Cultivation

It can be seen growing in the 'Le Grand Clos Botanique Garden' in

Bourgueil Bourgueil () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Population Bourgueil wine Bourgueil is an ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) for wine in the Loire Valley region, and produces primarily red wine from th ...

, France. It can be cultivated in pots, or in well-drained soils in sunshine (like other Juno irises).

Known hybrids

* ''Iris narbutii'' 'Kara Kaga' In Russia, Vvedenskii had noted several natural hybrids including; * ''J. narbutii'' x J maracandica (near Jizzak, Uzbekistan), * ''J. narbutii'' x J. Orchioides and * ''J. narbutii'' x J. subdecolorata (near Darbaza,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

References

External links

Image of ''Iris narbutii'' on flickr
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15572413 narbutii Plants described in 1905 Flora of Central Asia Flora of Tajikistan Flora of Uzbekistan Flora of Kazakhstan Medicinal plants of Asia