Iris acutiloba

Description

Iris acutiloba is a species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus of Iris and section Oncocyclus. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from the mountains of the Caucasus and found in Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Dagestan in the North Caucasus, and Iran. It is a dwarf species, with narrow, falcate or curved leaves, it has one flower in spring or early summer, that comes in shades from cream, creamy white, whitish, pale brown, light grey, to pale violet. It is heavily veined or streaked and pointed, with 2 dark spots and brown, purple, dark purple, or black short beard. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions. There are two subspecies, Iris acutiloba subsp. lineolata and Iris acutiloba subsp. longitepala. It has a small, thick and compressed rhizomes, which have many branches, and gives the plant a creeping habit, across the surface of the ground, while being heated by the sun. The creeping habit creates clumps. It has narrow, slender, curved, or falcate, leaves, that are glaucous, grey green, or medium green. They can grow up to between 10 cm (4 in) long, and between 0.2 and 0.6 cm wide. It is dwarf species, and has a slender stem or peduncle, that can grow up to between 8–25 cm (3–10 in) tall. The stem has lanceolate, slightly pinkish, or green, and membranous, spathes (leaves of the flower bud), they are 5–8 cm (2–3 in) long. The stems hold 1, terminal, (top of stem) flower, blooming in spring, or early summer,between March (in Russia), April, or May. The leaves begin to grow in the late autumn and stop in the summer. The flower is 5–8 cm (2–3 in) in diameter, come in shades from cream, creamy white,whitish, pale brown, light grey, to pale violet, They are streaked, or heavily veined with brown,brown black, grey, purple, or purple-brown, Like other irises, it has 2 pairs of petals, 3 large sepals (outer petals), known as the 'falls' and 3 inner, smaller petals (or tepals), known as the 'standards'. The falls are reflexed, pointed, or lanceolate, they can be up to 4–7 cm (2–3 in) long. They are generally marked with 2, large dark red-brown,blackish, purple-violet, or dark purplish-brown spots, or deep purple signal patch. One spot is in the centre and the other is at the apex. In the middle of the falls, is a sparse, row of short hairs called the 'beard', which is brown, purple, dark purple, or black. The acute,pointed,standards are larger than the falls, they can be up to 4–8 cm (2–3 in) long, and unspotted.