Iris Perrieri

''Iris perrieri'' is a plant species in the genus ''Iris''; it is also in the subgenus ''Iris''. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from the Savoy Alps in southern France and recently in Italy. It has green, deeply ribbed, sickle shaped leaves, a slender stem with a branch (from the middle), 1–3 scented flowers that are violet or purple, with a white or pale blue beard. It is rarely cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions, due to its rarity in the wild. It was once thought to be a form of ''Iris aphylla'', before cell (chromosome) analysis determined it to be a separate species.

Description

It is similar in form to ''Iris aphylla'', but has various differences including, stem branching, spathes, the falls, styles crests and seeds.British Iris Society (1997)

It has a thick, compact rhizome, that has several branching buds. Like other bearded irises, it grows partially buried, horizontally across the ground.

It has green, falcate (sickle-shaped) leaves, that are very heavily ribbed, so much so that they appear corrugated or pleated. They can grow up to between long, and between 2.0 and 2.4 cm wide. They are shorter than ''Iris aphylla''.

It has a slender stem or peduncle, that can grow up to between tall. Compared to ''Iris aphylla'', it branches (or pedicels) from the middle of the stem, (on ''Iris aphylla'', it branches close to the base or rhizome,) it very rarely has 2 branches.

The stem has green, inflated, spathe (leaf of the flower bud), They are between long. They also remain green, after the plant has flowered, unlike some others which turn papery. The large spathe leaf, partially, encases the perianth tube. If the plant does not have a branch, it only has 1 spathe.

The stem (and the branch) can hold between 1 and 3 flowers, but normally 2 flowers, blooming between April to May. The fragrant flowers, come in shades of violet, or purple.

Like other irises, it has 2 pairs of petals, 3 large sepals (outer petals), known as the 'falls' and 3 inner, smaller petals (or tepals), known as the 'standards'. The falls are obovate to cuneate (wedge shaped), and long, and 2.2–3 cm wide. They have lots of dark veining, and in the centre, there is a row of short hairs, a 'beard', which are white or pale blue. Near to the stem, the beard has a yellow or orange tip. The standards are oblong shaped, and a similar length to the falls, long, and 2.2–3 cm wide.

It has a 6 grooved and rounded ovary, which is 1.2–1.4 cm long and 0.5–0.6 cm wide.
It has a perianth tube is 1.7–2 cm long, the style branch is normally pale violet with darker keels (connecting points) and 1–1.6 cm long. It also has a pale violet filament, which is 1.2–1.7 cm long and a 1–1.2 cm long anther.

After the iris has flowered, in mid June, it produces an oblong shaped seed capsule, which is visibly grooved. Inside the capsule, are pyriform (pear shaped), reddish brown and wrinkled seeds. The seeds are dispersed by animals or grow up near to the parent plants.

Biochemistry

In 1956, a karyotype analysis was carried out on 40 species of Iris, belonging to the subgenera ''Eupogoniris'' and ''Pogoniris''. It found that 24-chromosome tall bearded species could e divided into 3 karyotypes of ''Iris pallida''. ''Iris kashmiriana'' has 2 pairs of median-constricted marker chromosomes, ''Iris illyrica'', ''Iris cengialti'', and ''Iris imbricata'', lastly ''Iris variegata'', ''Iris reginae'' (now classified as a synonym of ''Iris variegata''), and ''Iris perrieri'' all have no median-constricted chromosomes.

In 2008, a genetic and morphological study was carried out on ''Iris aphylla'' populations in Italy. Some populations (in Piemonte) were re-classified as ''Iris perrieri'' and plants labelled as '' Iris benacensis'' were not either ''Iris perrieri'' or ''Iris aphylla''.

In 2012, a study was carried out on the flora of Italy, using Ellenberg's Indicator values (relating to moisture, light, climate and salinity) for ''Iris benacensis'' and ''Iris perrieri''.

As most irises are diploid, having two sets of chromosomes, this can be used to identify hybrids and classification of groupings.
It is a diploid, and has a chromosome count of 2n=24, counted in 1956, by Mitra. The karyotype was described as being more similar to ''Iris variegata'' than to ''Iris aphylla''.

Taxonomy

It has the common name of 'Perrieri iris', or 'Perrier iris'.

The Latin specific epithet ''perrieri'' refers to Eugène Pierre Perrier de la Bâthie, (1825–1916), Baron E. Perrier de la Bathie, who ran a speciality plant nursery at the nearby town of Albertville.

It was found in 1890 by Baron E. Perrier and Dr Chabert (his friend), on Mount Dent d'Arcluz in the Bauges Mountains, but thought to be a form of ''Iris aphylla'' (which was at time called ''Iris bohemia'', later classified as a synonym of ''Iris aphylla''). In June 1894, in the 'Bulletin de l'Herbier Boissier' (Bull. Herb. Bois.), Vol.2 issue 11 on page436, Baron Perrier and Andre Songeon (1826–1905), published the iris as ''Iris bohemia''. The plant was then published as a separate species, and described by P Fournier based on an earlier description by Simonet as ''Iris perrieri'' in Les Quartre Flore de la France, Vol.191 in 1935.

In 1985, Nigel Service published a description and history in The Iris Year Book, he then published it in The Plantsman

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases