''Iris persica'', the Persian iris, is a native plant of
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. It is particularly known for its beauty and fragrance.
One of the first
Juno irises to be described, this species has been in cultivation
for centuries and was listed by
Philip Miller
Philip Miller FRS (1691 – 18 December 1771) was an English botanist and gardener of Scottish descent. Miller was chief gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden for nearly 50 years from 1722, and wrote the highly popular ''The Gardeners Dicti ...
in his book of 1732. It was originally grown as an indoor plant.
Description
This
bulbous
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 ...
is short, about 4 inches (10 cm) high. The leaves are 0.2 to 0.6 inches (5 to 15 mm) wide with a pale edge and a grey underside. The flowers are 2 inches (5 cm) across, varying in colour from brownish to greenish or greyish.
Distribution
It is an
alpine plant growing in the hills of
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
and
Syria, at altitudes between 300 and 5400 feet (100 to 1650 metres).
[
]
Cultivation
''Iris persica'' needs warmth and shelter to blossom but can be grown in the open air. It flowers in February and March and may flower for up to six weeks in a row.
The beauty of this plant attracted the attention of gardening writers including Vita Sackville-West
Victoria Mary, Lady Nicolson, CH (née Sackville-West; 9 March 1892 – 2 June 1962), usually known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author and garden designer.
Sackville-West was a successful novelist, poet and journalist, as wel ...
, Gertrude Jekyll,[ Jekyll, Gertrude (1900)]
''Home and Garden''
Cambridge University Press. p. 71 and William Robinson in his 1893 book ''The English Flower Garden'',[Robinson, William (1893)]
''The English Flower Garden, Notes and Thoughts, Practical and Critical, of a Worker in Both''.
John Murray. among others. Jekyll wrote "How endlessly beautiful are the various kinds of Iris, of which so many bloom in June... in a snug sunny place at the foot of a south wall ''Iris persica'', whose delicate petals of palest greenish-blue are boldly painted with stronger colours..."[
]
References
External links
American Iris Society: Cultivars
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15296233
persica
Alpine flora
Flora of Iran
Flora of Turkey
Flora of Iraq
Flora of Lebanon
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus