''Iris tingitana'' (also commonly known as the Morocco iris, or Tangerian iris, or Tangiers iris) 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 ...

'' in the subgenus of ''Xiphium''.

Description

The (diameter) bulb is red-brown in colour with veining. The largest bulbs of the ''Iris subg. Xiphium'' subgenus are ''Iris tingitana''. In the US, bulbs with an 11 cm circumference are recommended to be used by flower producers. It has flowers in various shades of blue. It has pale blue veins on the flowers and has generally between 1 and 2 flowers to a stem. The stems is hidden by two channelled leaves.Richard Lynch It blooms between February and May. The plant can grow to a maximum height of 60 cm (24 in) and its leaves appear in the autumn. They can grow up to 1 1/2 ft high.

Biochemistry

'Iriskumaonin' (C₁₈H₂₄O₇ is found within the bulbs of ''Iris tingitana'', as well as ''

Iris germanica 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 ...

'' and ''

Iris kemaonensis ''Iris kemaonensis'', the Kumaon iris, is a plant species in the genus ''Iris'', it is also in the subgenus ''Iris'' and in the section ''Pseudoregelia''. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from Tibetan China, Bhutan, India, Kashmir and Nepal. It h ...

''.John Buckingham, V. Ranjit N. Munasinghe

Taxonomy

The name is derived from 'tingitana' 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 'from Tangiers'. It is pronounced 'ting-ee-TAN-uh' It is often mistakenly called 'Spanish Iris'. The Spanish Iris is

Iris xiphium ''Iris xiphium'', commonly known as the Spanish iris, is an iris native to Spain and Portugal. It has also been found in Corsica, South West France, southern Italy, Algeria and Tunisia. This species is also known as the small bulbous-rooted ir ...

. It was first published and described by

Pierre Edmond Boissier Pierre Edmond Boissier (25 May 1810 Geneva – 25 September 1885 Valeyres-sous-Rances) was a Swiss prominent botanist, explorer and mathematician. He was the son of Jacques Boissier (1784-1857) and Caroline Butini (1786-1836), daughter of Pierre ...

and

George François Reuter George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd President ...

in 'Pugillus Plantarum Novarum Africae Borealis Hispaniaeque Australis' (Pugill. Pl. Afr. Bor. Hispan.) Vol. 113 in January 1852. It was then illustrated in

Curtis's Botanical Magazine ''The Botanical Magazine; or Flower-Garden Displayed'', is an illustrated publication which began in 1787. The longest running botanical magazine, it is widely referred to by the subsequent name ''Curtis's Botanical Magazine''. Each of the issue ...

, Tab. 6775 on 1 September 1884. 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, then updated on 14 April 2009. ''Iris tingitana'' is listed in the RHS Plant Finder.

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 Africa.

Range

It is found in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

and

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. It is also found in North Africa,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Conservation

In 2014, it was becoming rare in Morocco.

Cultivation

It is very susceptible to iris mosaic virus. It can be propagated by

bulblet In botany, a bulb is structurally a short Plant stem, stem with fleshy leaf, 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 st ...

s, 1 to 4 small bulbs growing beside the main bulb which can then be taken off and planted to grow on to form a new bulb. It has a reputation of being a difficult species to grow in the UK. Even in the US, it is restricted to be grown in mild climates such as southern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Due to the limited hardiness of the species, it is better 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 co ...

or grown in a dry border then lifted and stored like

dahlias Dahlia (, ) is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico and Central America. A member of the Asteraceae (former name: Compositae) family of dicotyledonous plants, its garden relatives thus include the sunflowe ...

. It can be grown in pots for inside or outside displays.

Cultivars

Known cultivars include; ''Iris tingitana'' 'Paris' (large dark blue violet flowers)

References

Other sources

* Jahandiez, E. & R. Maire. 1931–1941. Catalogue des plantes du Maroc. * Maire, R. C. J. E. et al. 1952–. Flore de l'Afrique du Nord. * Mathew, B. 1981. The Iris. 137–138. * Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964–1980. Flora europaea. entions

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15572483

tingitana Mauretania Tingitana (Latin for "Tangerine Mauretania") was a Roman province, coinciding roughly with the northern part of present-day Morocco. The territory stretched from the northern peninsula opposite Gibraltar, to Sala Colonia (or Chellah) ...

Plants described in 1853 Flora of Spain Flora of Gibraltar Flora of Morocco Flora of Europe Flora of Algeria Taxa named by Pierre Edmond Boissier Taxa named by George François Reuter