Kingdom Plantae Family Iridaceae Tribe Irideae Rank Species | Order Asparagales Subfamily Iridoideae Genus Iris | |
Similar Iris notha, Iris glaucescens, Iris filifolia, Iris scariosa, Iris tigridia | ||
Iris serotina is a species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus of Xiphium.
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Serotina comes from the Greek word, 'serotina' meaning late in flowering.
In 1861, Heinrich Moritz Willkomm described Iris serotina after seeing plants from Province of Jaén (Spain). Originally, he called it 'Iris filifolia', but this was later corrected to Iris serotina. Then published in 'Prodromus Florae Hispanicae' Vol.1 in 1861. It was later illustrated in Curtis's Botanical Magazine No.733 in 1977.
Habit
Iris serotina has blue-violet flowers, the petals are veined with a deeper violet colour, and the falls are marked with a yellow patch. It normally has 2 - 3 flowers per stem. It generally flowers in August.
It grows to a maximum height of 60 cm (24 in.). The leaves are 2-6mm wide and grow between 30–60 cm tall. They appear in the autumn but then fade before flowering.
Its seeds are small, yellow and semi-circular.
It is best grown in a bulb frame or a very sheltered dry border, in the UK.
Native
Originally found in South eastern Spain. It has been found in Cuenca, Jaen and Province of Granada. It also has been found in Rif, Morocco.
It was on the 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants in Spain.