IRIS PSEUDACORUS

Family and Genus:- See- IRIDACEAE/Subgen. IRIS/Sect. SPATHULA

Common Names:- Yellow flag Iris

Homotypic Synonyms:- None

Meaning:- Iris (L) After Iris, the mythological messenger of the gods of the

rainbow.

Pseudacorus (Gr) False acorus Acorus = without-pupil. A name used

by the Greek physician and botanist Dioscorides for an iris (its use in treating

cataracts)

Stems:-

1) 60-120 cm, slightly compressed, bearing several leaves.

Leaves:-

1) Greyish- or pale-green, ensiform.

2) Basal, 50-90 x 1-3 cm, somewhat glaucous, with a conspicuous midrib.

Flowers:-

1) 4-12, yellow, the lower on a long, peduncle, suberect.

2) Pedicels, 20-50 mm.

3) Spathes, 40-100 mm herbaceous, with membranous margins.

4) Hypanthial tube, 10-15 mm, narrowly infundibuliform.

5) Falls, 50-75 x 20-30 mm; with brown or violet marks; limb broadly ovate.

6) Standards, 20-30 x 4-8 mm, linear-oblong, shorter and narrower than the style-

branches.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule, 40-80 mm, cylindrical, with a short beak.

2) Seeds, dark brown, smooth.

Key features:-

1) Leaves, not evergreen, not fetid; with conspicuous midrib.

2) Seeds, brown, shed soon afterd dehiscence.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- In or close to water, marshy ground, stream and river margins, lakes and

ditches. 0-200 m.

Distribution:- scattered throughout Greece. - Most of Europe. Restricted on Crete

to the north-west near the coast, for example near GeorgioupoIi.

Flowering time:- Apr to early June.

Photos by:- Fotis Samaritakis