Angiosperms (Flowering Plants) • Earth.com

Dwarf woodland korean iris

(Iris koreana)

galery
en

Description

Iris koreana, also known as dwarf woodland Korean iris, is a beardless iris in the genus Iris, in the subgenus Limniris and in the series Chinenses of the genus. It is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial from Korea. Iris koreana is similar in form to (the larger) Iris minutoaurea and Iris odaesanensis, (both are also from the Iris chinensis series). William Rickatson Dykes thought that Iris koreana was a larger form of Iris minutoaurea,but Iris koreana is more robust than Iris minutoaurea. It is also similar to the American woodland native, Iris cristata. It has slender rhizomes that are small, long, fine and have many branches (or stolons). Due to its spreading ability, it is thought it could be used as a ground cover plant. It has narrow, smooth, glossy green, and ensiform (sword-shaped) leaves, that are long than the flowering stems.They grow up to 20–35 cm (8–14 in) long and 1–4 cm (0–2 in) wide. The leaves have prominent veins and are faintly tinged red at base (near the rhizome). Iris koreana and Iris minutoaureas also have the habit of their foliage growing longer after they have flowered. It has an unbranched stem, up to 15–30 cm (6–12 in) tall. It has 2 terminal flowers (at the top of the stems), that bloom in early summer, between April and May. It has a perianth tube that is longer than the spathes (leaves of the flower bud). The flowers are small, about 3 cm (1 in) in diameter. They come in yellow shades, between bright yellow to pale yellow. 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 larger falls are obovate (egg or tear-drop shaped), held at a horizontal angle, have pleated edges and have brown markings on the hafts (the thinner part of the petal heading towards the centre). The smaller and shorter standards are paler (than the falls), almost erect (or vertical) and have a notch at the ends. The style branches are the same colour as the standards but narrow and acuminate (end in a sharp point). In June and July (after the flowers have faded), it produces green, globose (spherical) seed capsules.Inside are obovate or occasionally circular, smooth, glabrous (without hair) and brown or dark henne coloured seeds. Which are 3.6–4.6 mm (0–0 in) long and 2.5–3.3 mm (0–0 in) wide.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum:
Class: Liliopsida
Order:Asparagales
Family:Iridaceae
Genus:Iris
News coming your way
The biggest news about our planet delivered to you each day