Iris purdyi is a species of iris known by the common name Purdy's iris, named after Carl Purdy. It is found in the redwood forests of California and into southern Oregon, and hence is also known as the redwood iris. The plant flowers from April to June.
| Iris purdyi | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Iridaceae |
| Genus: | Iris |
| Subgenus: | Iris subg. Limniris |
| Section: | Iris sect. Limniris |
| Series: | Iris ser. Californicae |
| Species: | I. purdyi
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| Binomial name | |
| Iris purdyi | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
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Description edit
Leaves edit
The leaves are green and usually tinted along the edges with pink. There is a closed spathe which is green with red edges.
Flowers edit
The flowers are light yellow and lavender, often veined with darker coloring, and are hermaphrodite. The stigma is rounded, truncate or bilobed and often edged with small teeth, it is the only species of Iris ser. Californicae not to have a triangular or tongue shaped stigma.[3]
Seeds edit
The seeds are D-shaped or irregular, light brown and wrinkled.[3]
Status edit
While once common, disturbance caused by logging and opening up new highways has allowed other species to move in, in particular I. douglasiana and I. macrosiphon, and the resulting hybrids are abundant.[3]
Location edit
The iris is found in Humboldt, Mendocino, Sonoma and Trinity counties in California,[3] and in southern Oregon.
Hybridization edit
Iris purdyi hybridizes with I. bracteata, I. chrysophylla, I. douglasiana, I. innominata, I. macrosiphon, I. tenax, and I. tenuissima.
It is rare in its unhybridized form.[4]
The cross with I. tenax, called "Iota", was made by the Englishman William Dykes, and was the first Californian Iris to win a Royal Horticultural Society Award of Merit, in 1914.[5]
Uses edit
Traditional uses by native Americans were as a source of fibre to make rope, using the outside fibres from each leaf. The leaves can also be used to make a light tan paper.[6]
References edit
- ^ "ITIS standard report - Iris purdyi (Eastw.)". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
- ^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Iris purdyi Eastw.". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ a b c d A Guide to Species Irises: Their Identification and Cultivation. British Iris Society. Species Group (editors). Cambridge University Press. 3 March 1997. p. 144,154–5. ISBN 978-0-521-44074-5.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ "???". Quarterly Bulletin of the Alpine Garden Society. 65–66. Alpine Garden Society: 441. 1997.
- ^ Wild Lilies, Irises, and Grasses: Gardening with California Monocots. Nora Harlow, Kristin Jakob(editors). University of California Press. 17 May 2004. pp. 107–108. ISBN 978-0520238497.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Plant Fibres for Papermaking.
External links edit
Iris purdyi.
- CalFlora database: Iris purdyi
- Jepson Manual Treatment
- Santa Barbara Botanic Garden where the plant is on display