''Iris pseudocaucasica'' is a 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 ''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, within the Caucasus (in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) and in Iran, Iraq and Turkey.

Description

It is not to be confused with '' Iris caucasica'', although in the same sub-genus of iris, they are different plants. It differs from ''Iris caucasica'' by having yellowish green or blue flowers. ''Iris pseudocaucasica'' has a bulb of 1-1.5 cm diameter. It generally has 3–4 leaves, when fully grown these reach a height of between 4–18 cm long and between 1–2.8 cm wide at the base of the plant, but averagely, they are 1-1.5 cm wide. They are generally

lanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

shaped, channelled, glossy green above with a greyish-green below, with a white cartilaginous margin. The large leaves normally obscure the flower stem, which can reach a maximum height of tall. It has generally 1–4 flowers per stem. It blooms in the UK between April and June. In

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

. it flowers from March to May and fruits from May to June. The flowers can also be described as translucent yellow or icy blue, or creamy yellow, or light bluish–violet. The flowers have a perianth tube of 3–4 cm long and bracts 4–5 cm long. It has large winged standards, which are about 2 cm long. The pale blue forms have falls that have a yellow wavy crest. It has an ellipsoid capsule, (produced after flowering) which is about 3.5 cm long, producing seeds about 4 mm long.

Biochemistry

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: 2n=20. It has been studied in

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 ...

during a

karyotypic 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 ...

study in 2013, with

Iris songarica ''Iris songarica'' is a beardless iris in the genus ''Iris'', in the subgenus '' Limniris'' and in the series '' Tenuifoliae'' of the genus. It is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial, from Central Asia, located in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Kaza ...

Iris aucheri ''Iris aucheri'', the Aucher-Éloy iris, is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae. It is a bulbous perennial in the Juno group of irises (multiple flowers per plant). Description ''Iris aucheri'' grows to tall, with crowded lance ...

and Iris sisyrinchium.

Taxonomy

The

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 ...

is derived from 'pseudo' from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

word meaning 'false' and 'caucasica' meaning from the Caucasus. It was first published in 'Vĕstnik Tiflisskago Botaniceskago Sada. Moniteur du Jardin Botanique de Tiflis' on pages 40–41 in 1916 by

Alexander Alfonsovich Grossheim Alexander Alfonsovich Grossheim (6 March 1888 – 4 December 1948) was a Soviet botanist of German descent. He traveled widely over the Caucasus region collecting and studying various different plant life. He is most known for Pteridophytes and S ...

. ''Iris pseudocaucasica'' is an accepted name by the RHS, and 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 4 April 2003, and then updated on 13 March 2017. It is listed in 1995 in 'Vascular plants of Russia and adjacent states (the former USSR)' by Czerepanov, S. K.

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 regions of

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 area ...

Range

''Iris pseudocaucasica'' is found in South East

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, North Eastern

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 Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, North and North western

and the former USSR state of Armenia, (part of Southern

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

). It also can be found in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

, and Nakhichevan,

East Anatolia The Eastern Anatolia Region ('' tr, Doğu Anadolu Bölgesi'') is a geographical region of Turkey. The most populous province in the region is Van Province. Other populous provinces are Malatya, Erzurum and Elazığ. It is bordered by the Black Se ...

. Within Armenia, it is distributed in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

(central part of Urts mountain range) and

Meghri Meghri ( hy, Մեղրի) is a town and the center of the urban community of Meghri, in Syunik Province in southern Armenia, near the border with Iran. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town was 4,580. According to the 2020 official est ...

(

Aygedzor Aygedzor ( hy, Այգեձոր) is a village in the Berd Municipality of the Tavush Province of Armenia. The Aghjkaberd mountain fortress is located close to Aygedzor. Toponymy The village was previously known as ''Kulali''. Gallery Այգ ...

, Vardanadzor,

Gudemnis Gudemnis ( hy, Գուդեմնիս) is a village in the Meghri Municipality of the Syunik Province in Armenia. Demographics Population The National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia (ARMSTAT) reported its population as 39 in 2010 ...

Shvanidzor Shvanidzor ( hy, Շվանիձոր, ) is a village in the Meghri Municipality of the Syunik Province in southeastern Armenia, near Armenia's border with Iran. Toponymy The village is also known as ''Astazur'' and ''Shvandor''. History According ...

, and Nyuvadi towns) regions. Due to the loss of the irises natural habitat, which has been caused by an expansion of the local mining industry, it has become a 'threatened' plant and is becoming rarer to find. In Iran, it is found along the lakeside of the Chalus Gorge, north of

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

, with in rock crevices, and within Jahan Nama, Golestan, Only yellow-flowered forms of the species have been recorded in Turkey.

Habitat

It prefers the clay, stony hillsides, screes and mountain steppes. It is found at altitudes of between above sea level.

Cultivation

It is

hardy Hardy may refer to: People * Hardy (surname) * Hardy (given name) * Hardy (singer), American singer-songwriter Places Antarctica * Mount Hardy, Enderby Land * Hardy Cove, Greenwich Island * Hardy Rocks, Biscoe Islands Australia * Hardy, Sout ...

USDA 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 ...

Zone 4.James Cullen, Sabina G. Knees, H. Suzanne Cubey (Editors) It prefers to be cultivated in well-drained soils with a high rock/stone content, that are in full sun but are protected from winter damp.

References

Other sources

* Davis, P. H., ed. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands. 1965-1988 (F Turk) * Euro+Med Editorial Committee Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource). (EuroMed Plantbase) * Govaerts, R. World checklist of selected plant families (on-line resource). (World Checkl Sel Fam) * Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. Flora SSSR. 1934-1964 (F USSR) * Mathew, B. The Iris. 1981 (Iris) 162. * Rechinger, K. H., ed. Flora iranica. 1963- (F Iran) * Townsend, C. C. & E. Guest Flora of Iraq. 1966- (F Iraq)

External links

Image of the iris

images of the iris in Elburz mountains,Iran
* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q5903086 pseudocaucasica Plants described in 1853 Flora of Turkey Flora of Iraq Flora of Iran Flora of Armenia Flora of Azerbaijan