Iris juncea

Iris juncea (commonly called the rush iris) is a smooth-bulbed bulbous iris species. The name is derived from 'juncea' from the Greek word meaning 'rush-like'.[1]

Rush iris
Illustration of the Iris juncea by Walter Hood Fitch (Curtis’s Botanical Magazine)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Iridaceae
Genus: Iris
Subgenus: Iris subg. Xiphium
Section: Iris sect. Xiphium
Species:
I. juncea
Binomial name
Iris juncea
Synonyms

Diaphane stylosa Salisb.
Iris mauritanica Ker Gawl.
Xiphion junceum (Poir.) Parl.

It was first described by Jean Louis Marie Poiret in 1871.[2] It was then illustrated in Curtis's Botanical Magazine in 1898.[3]

Its flowers are light yellow[4] and fragrant. Normally 2 per stem in summer.[5] It flowers between June and July.[3]

It grows to a height of between 1 and 2 feet.[6] The 3mm wide leaves appear in the autumn and then fade before flowering.[5]

The bulb is reddish-brown in colour.[3]

It can be found in (Algeria and Tunisia) in North Africa,[7] Southern Spain and Sicily.[5]

Other varieties known include;[5]

  • iris juncea var. merimieri (Lynch) Sulphur yellow flowers
  • iris juncea var. numidica (Anon) lemon-yellow flowers (from Africa)[3]
  • iris juncea var. pallida (Lynch) large soft yellow flowers

References
  1. Stearn, William (1972). A Gardenerer's Dictionary of Plant Names. London: Cassell. p. 184. ISBN 0304937215.
  2. "Iris juncea Poir". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  3. Richard Lynch The Book of the Iris, p. 160, at Google Books
  4. "New Garden Plants". Kew Bulletin (25–48): 47. 1890.
  5. James Cullen, Sabina G. Knees, H. Suzanne Cubey (Editors) The European Garden Flora Flowering Plants: A Manual for the Identification, p. 259, at Google Books
  6. William Robinson (2009). Hardy Flowers. Applewood Books. p. 150. ISBN 978-1429014434.
  7. Martınez, Jorge; Vargas, Pablo; Luceno, Modesto; Cuadrado, Angeles (13 August 2010). "Evolution of Iris subgenus Xiphium based on chromosome numbers" (PDF). www.rjb.csic.es. Retrieved 1 August 2014.

Media related to Iris juncea at Wikimedia Commons


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