Iris caucasica (also known as Caucasian iris)[2][3] is a species of plant in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus of Scorpiris. Pronounced as 'kaw-KAS-ee-kuh'.[4]

Iris caucasica
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Iridaceae
Genus: Iris
Subgenus: Iris subg. Scorpiris
Section: Iris sect. Scorpiris
Species:
I. caucasica
Binomial name
Iris caucasica
Synonyms[1]
  • Iris caucasica turcica
  • Coresantha caucasica (Hoffm.)
  • Costia caucasica (Hoffm.) Willk.
  • Iris caucasica subsp. caucasica
  • Juno caucasica (Hoffm.) Tratt.
  • Neubeckia caucasica (Hoffm.) Alef.
  • Thelysia caucasica (Hoffm.) Parl.
  • Xiphion caucasicum (Hoffm.) Baker

It is a bulbous perennial.

It was described in 1808 by Georg Hoffman in Commentat. Soc. Phys.-Med. Univ. Litt. Caes. Mosq.[5]

It was once confused with Iris orchioides, but Iris caucasica is a smaller plant, with sessile flowers. Also it has leaves that have white margins.[6]

Iris caucasica is an accepted name by the Royal Horticultural Society.[2]

Habit

edit

It has a brown ovoid bulb with fleshy roots.[6] It is similar in form to Iris persica.[3]

It has grey green leaves,[7] which are ciliate[8] and that start growing at flowering time.[9] They reach up to 10–12 cm long and l-2 cm wide.[8] The leaves have a faint white margin.[10]

It has between 1–4 flowers per stem, normally pale yellow or green and with winged falls.[9] The falls also have a yellow ridge.[7] The flowers are 5–15 cm (2–6 in) across.[9] It flowers in late spring.[8] It eventually reaches a height of 15 cm (flower and stem).[8] The flowers are not fragrant.[6]

Native

edit

Iris caucasica grows on limestone mountain slopes (at 1200-3500m above sea level)[8] in Turkey[7] and Armenia and Azerbaijan,[11] in the Caucasus mountains.[7] Bieberstein notes seeing it near Tbilisi in the South Caucasus.[3] It has also been found in Israel and Iran.[10]

Hybrids

edit

In 1892, Michael Foster introduced a hybrid version Iris Caucasica 'Kharput'.[4] which does not have winged falls.[9] It still has 4–5 flowers per stem, which are greenish-yellow. But they are generally larger than parent plant.[6]

Folk use

edit

A survey of plants used as folk medicine showed that Iris caucasica Hoffm. subsp. turcica (or Sarı nevroz, a local name used in Ovacık, Dersim) has been used as for folk medicine in Turkey. The flowers have been used in an infusion to treat colds. [12]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Iris caucasica Hoffm". www.theplantlist.org. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Iris caucasica". Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  3. ^ a b c Robert Sweet, Edwin Dalton Smith (1904)The British Flower Garden: Containing Coloured Figures & Descriptions of the Most Ornamental & Curious Hardy Herbaceous Plants (1829), p. 255, at Google Books
  4. ^ a b "Iris caucasica 'Caucasica Kharput'". davesgarden.com. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  5. ^ "Iris caucasica Hoffm". apps.kew.org. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  6. ^ a b c d Lynch, Richard (1904) The Book of the Iris, p. 176, at Google Books
  7. ^ a b c d "JunoIrises". www.pacificbulbsociety.org. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Iris caucasica". encyclopaedia.alpinegardensociety.net. 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  9. ^ a b c d Cassidy, G.E.; Linnegar, S. (1987). Growing Irises (Revised ed.). Bromley: Christopher Helm. p. 146. ISBN 0-88192-089-4.
  10. ^ a b "Iris - Caucasus Yellow,Caucasus Yellow Iris". www.searchlifeforms.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  11. ^ "Iris caucasica". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  12. ^ Tuzlaci, Ertan; Doğan, Ahmet (2010-09-03). "Turkish folk medicinal plants, IX: Ovacik (Tunceli)". Marmara Pharmaceutical Journal. 14 (3): 136–143. doi:10.12991/201014449. ISSN 1309-0801.

Sources

edit
  • Czerepanov, S. K. 1995. Vascular plants of Russia and adjacent states (the former USSR). (L USSR) [noted as 'Juno caucasica' (Hoffm.) Klatt].
  • Davis, P. H., ed. 1965–1988. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands. (F Turk)
  • Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934–1964. Flora SSSR. (F USSR)
  • Mathew, B. 1981. The Iris. (Iris) 146.
  • Rechinger, K. H., ed. 1963–. Flora iranica. (F Iran)
  • Townsend, C. C. & E. Guest. 1966–. Flora of Iraq. (F Iraq)
edit

  Media related to Iris caucasica at Wikimedia Commons   Data related to Iris caucasica at Wikispecies