Sand iris

Description

Iris humilis is a plant species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus of Iris and in the Psammiris section. It is a rhizomatous perennial, with a wide distribution range from Europe to Russia to China, via Mongolia and Kazakhstan. It has sword-shaped leaves, a short stem and yellow flowers with an orange beard. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions. It once had Iris arenaria as a synonym or as a subspecies. It is a yellow dwarf iris only from central Europe. In some sources it is still listed as a subspecies of Iris humilis. Iris humilis is very similar in form to Iris mandshurica (another Psammiris species), which leaves curve to one side, but it is a shorter plant. It has thick creeping rhizome,which is branched, and about 1 cm in diameter. The rhizome has the remains of last seasons leaves on the top. It has bluish-green,gray-green,or light glaucous green, sword shaped or lanceolate,basal leaves. They can grow up to 5–10 cm (2–4 in) long, and 0.2–0.7 cm wide,They have incurving tips, and they disappear in summer, after flowering. It has a simple dwarf (or short stem), that can grow up to between 5–25 cm (2–10 in) tall. The stems have 2–3 spathes (leaves of the flower bud), which are lanceolate and are (scarious) membranous at the top of the leaf.They have short, 7.5mm long pedicels (flower stalks). The stems hold between 1 and 3 flowers,in late spring, between April and June.The flowers only last for a day, but they sometimes repeat the display. The vanilla scented, flowers are 3–4 cm (1–2 in) in diameter, come in shades of yellow, including bright yellow. The flower buds are normally green, that have a slight tinge of bronze. 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 oblong shaped, and 35 mm (1 in) long and 1.2 cm wide.They are veined brown or purple brown. They have a central orange beard. The shorter,standards are 30 mm (1 in) long and 0.3 cm wide. The standards are not erect and this gives the flower a flattish appearance. It has a 1 cm long ovary and a 0.5 cm long, funnel shaped perianth tube. It has styles that are shorter than the petals, about 2.5 cm long, which have short narrow crests. The anthers are cream with green-black edging and the pollen is greenish coloured.