Tribe Irideae Rank Species | Subfamily Iridoideae | |
Similar Iris fosteriana, Iris imbricata, Iris lycotis | ||
Iris pseudocaucasica top 5 facts
Iris pseudocaucasica is a species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus of Scorpiris. It is a bulbous perennial.
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The name is derived from 'pseudo' from the Greek word meaning 'false' and 'caucasica' meaning from the Caucasus.
It is not to be confused with Iris caucasica, although in the same sub-genus of iris, they are different plants.
It was first published in 'Vĕstnik Tiflisskago Botaniceskago Sada. Moniteur du Jardin Botanique de Tiflis' on pages 40–41 in 1916 by Alexander Alfonsovich Grossheim.
Iris pseudocaucasica is an accepted name by the RHS.
It is listed in 1995 in 'Vascular plants of Russia and adjacent states (the former USSR)' by Czerepanov, S. K.
It has been studied in Iran during a karyotypic study in 2013, with Iris songarica, Iris aucheri and Iris sisyrinchium.
It is hardy to USDA Zone 4.
It prefers to be cultivated in well drained soils with a high rock/stone content, that are in full sun but are protected from winter damp.
Habit
Iris pseudocaucasica has a bulb of 1-1.5 cm diameter.
It differs from Iris caucasica by having yellowish green or blue flowers. The flowers can also be described as translucent yellow or icy blue, or creamy yellow or light bluish–violet.
It has generally 1-4 flowers per stem.
The flowers have a perianth tube of 3–4 cm long and bracts 4–5 cm long. It has large winged standards, which are about 2 cm long.
The pale blue forms have falls that have a yellow wavy crest.
The plant will reach a maximum height of 2-8" (6–20 cm).
It blooms in the UK between April and June. In Armenia. it flowers from March to May and fruits from May to June.
It generally has 3-4 leaves, when fully grown these reach a height of between 4–18 cm long and between 1-2.8 cm wide at the base of the plant, but averagely, they are 1-1.5 cm wide. They are generally lanceolate shaped, channelled, glossy green above with a greyish-green below, with a white cartilaginous margin. The large leaves normally obscure the flower stem.
It has an ellipsoid capsule,(after flowering) which is about 3.5 cm long, producing seeds about 4 mm long.
Native
Iris pseudocaucasica is found in South East Turkey, North Eastern Iraq, North and North western Iran and the former USSR state of Armenia, (part of Southern Transcaucasia). It also can be found in Azerbaijan, and Nakhichevan, East Anatolia.
Within Armenia, it is distributed in Yerevan (central part of Urts mountain range) and Meghri (Aygedzor, Vardanadzor, Gudemnis, Shvanidzor, and Nyuvadi towns) regions. Due to the loss of the irises natural habitat, which has been caused by an expansion of the local mining industry, it has become a threaten plant and is becoming rarer to find.
It prefers the clay, stony hillsides, screes and mountain steppes, at altitudes of between 600m to 3,500m above sea level.
It has been found in Jahan Nama, Golestan, Iran.
It is also found along the lakeside to the Chalus Gorge, north of Tehran, where in crevices.
Only yellow-flowered forms of the species have been recorded in Turkey.