''Iris pallida'', the Dalmatian iris or sweet iris, is a

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 ...

flowering perennial plant of the genus '' Iris'', family Iridaceae. 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 the

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

n coast ( Croatia) but widely naturalised elsewhere. It is a member of the

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

'' Iris'', meaning that it is a bearded iris, and grows from a

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

Description

This iris prefers rocky places in the Mediterranean and Submediterranean zone and reaches sometimes montane regions at its southern range in Montenegro. It grows to a stem height of . The leaves are bluish-green in color, and sword-shaped, in length, and in width. The inflorescence, produced in May/June, is fan-shaped and contains two or three flowers which are usually pale purplish to whitish.

Cultivation

It is cultivated as a garden plant, and commercially for extraction of essential oils from its

( orris root). The variegated cultivar 'Variegata' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

Subspecies

Three

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of ''Iris pallida'' s.l. are recognised by some authors as species: ''Iris pallida'' subsp. ''cengialti'', (with deep purplish flowers) from Slovenia and adjacent Italy, ''Iris pallida'' ssp. ''illyrica'', from the North Dalmatian coast, and ''Iris pallida'' ssp. ''pseudopallida'' from the South Dalmatian coast.

References

pallida This list of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names is intended to help those unfamiliar with classical languages to understand and remember the scientific names of organisms. The binomial nomenclature used for animals and plants i ...

Endemic flora of Croatia Garden plants of Europe Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck {{Iridaceae-stub