Prairie iris

Description

Iris schachtii is a plant species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus Iris. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from central Anatolia, in Turkey. It has small, thin grey-green leaves, a short stem with 1–3 branches, which are normally, covered with a green leaf with purple staining. It has 2 or more fragrant flowers in late spring (normally between May and June), which come in shades of yellow or purple, or violet and yellow, (from greenish yellow, mid-yellow, yellow, white, off-white to yellow/brown bi-tones). It has a yellow or white with yellow-tips beard. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperateregions, but prefers regions with dry, hot summers. Similar in form to Iris attica, or Iris imbricata. It may also be related to Iris taochia but it is smaller, with different leaves. It has nodular, fibrous and well branched rhizomes. That creep across the soil to create small clumps of plants. It has small, thin leaves, with are narrow. The herbaceous, or semi-herbaceous leaves, are grey-green, glaucous, and can grow up to 22 cm (9 in) long, and between 1.5 cm wide. They are ensiform (sword shaped), crescent-shaped, or lanceolate (lance-shaped). They have parallel venation. It has a short stem or peduncle, that can grow up to between 10–30 cm (4–12 in) tall. It has 1–3 short branches, which can be hidden by the bracts. The stem has a short, semi-sheathing leaf, and 1 stem leaf, the branches have partially inflated spathes (leaves of the flower bud), which are 2.5–5.5 cm (1–2 in) long, and generally green with purple staining. They are transparent or membranous on the edges. The large flowers, are 5–6 cm (2–2 in) in diameter, come in shades of yellow or purple, or violet and yellow. Including greenish yellow, mid-yellow, yellow, white, off-white and yellow/brown bi-tones. The fragranced flowers, are similar in form to Iris germanica flowers. Like other irises, Iris schachtii 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 dark veined, or brown veined, falls are obovate or obtuse shaped, up to 4.5 cm (2 in) long and 2.5 cm wide. In the middle of the falls, is a row of short hairs called the 'beard', which is yellow, or white with yellow-tips. It often is similar to the petal colour. It has broadly elliptic-obtuse shaped standards, that narrow abruptly, they are similar in shape to nautilus shells.