Foothill iris

Description

Iris hartwegii is a species of iris endemic to California, where it can be found on low-elevation mountain slopes in the central counties. It has many common names including; foothill iris, rainbow iris, Sierra iris, and Hartweg's iris. It bears one to three flowers on a slender stem, and the flowers may be shades of purple or yellow to almost white. It has lavender veining. There were three to five subspecies, but these are now considered synonyms. Iris is a genus of 260–300 species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, which is also the name for the Greek goddess of the rainbow, Iris. Some authors state that the name refers to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species. As well as being the scientific name, iris is also widely used as a common name for all Iris species, as well as some belonging to other closely related genera. A common name for some species is 'flags', while the plants of the subgenus Scorpiris are widely known as 'junos', particularly in horticulture. It is a popular garden flower. The often-segregated, monotypic genera Belamcanda (blackberry lily, I. domestica), Hermodactylus (snake's head iris, I. tuberosa), and Pardanthopsis (vesper iris, I. dichotoma) are currently included in Iris. Three Iris varieties are used in the Iris flower data set outlined by Ronald Fisher in his 1936 paper The use of multiple measurements in taxonomic problems as an example of linear discriminant analysis. Irises are perennial plants, growing from creeping rhizomes (rhizomatous irises) or, in drier climates, from bulbs (bulbous irises). They have long, erect flowering stems which may be simple or branched, solid or hollow, and flattened or have a circular cross-section. The rhizomatous species usually have 3–10 basal sword-shaped leaves growing in dense clumps. The bulbous species have cylindrical, basal leaves. Iris is the largest genus of the family Iridaceae with up to 300 species – many of them natural hybrids. Modern classifications, starting with Dykes (1913), have subdivided them.