Seashore Iris (Iris spuria)

Description

“Pet poisonous” - Toxic to Dogs Iris spuria is a species of the genus Iris, part of a subgenus series known as Limniris and in the Series Spuriae. It is a rhizomatous perennial plant, from Europe, Asia and Africa. It has purple or lilac flowers, and slender, elongated leaves. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions and hybridized for use in the garden. It has several subspecies; Iris spuria subsp. carthaliniae (Achv. & Mirzoeva) B.Mathew, Iris spuria subsp. demetrii (Achv. & Mirzoeva) B.Mathew, Iris spuria subsp. maritima (Dykes) P.Fourn. and Iris spuria subsp. musulmanica (Fomin) Takht. It used to have 3 other subspecies, which have now been re-classified as separate species; Iris spuria subsp. halophila (now Iris halophila), Iris spuria ssp. sogdiana (now Iris halophile subsp. sogdiana) and Iris spuria subsp. notha (now Iris notha). It has many common names including 'blue iris', 'spurious iris' and 'bastard iris'. It has 2 pairs of petals, 3 large sepals (outer petals), known as the 'falls' and 3 inner, smaller petals (or tepals, known as the 'standards'. The falls are broadly ovate, elliptic, or orbicular with a long claw (section leading to the stem).The fall is 4.5-6 cm (2-2 in) long,and 2.5 cm wide.They have purple or violet veining,and a central yellow or white stripe or signal area.The standards are short, lanceolate or oblanceolate, erect wavy, and 3-6 cm (1-2 in) long and 8-20 mm wide.It has a 7-10 mm long perianth tube,the ovary has a long tapering beak, which can be up to 40mm long.It has a narrow,violet Stigma (botany)#Style,2.5 cm long violet-lilac stigmas,1.27 cm long anthers, which equal the filament length.After the iris has flowered, it produces an oblong-ovate, hexagonal, (2.5-4 cm long) seed capsule in September. It has a long beak-like appendage on the top,and 6 visible, longitudinal groves.Inside the capsule, are light brown, angular seeds, with a loose membranous testa (surface). Like many other irises, most parts of the plant are poisonous (rhizome and leaves), and can cause stomach pains and vomiting if mistakenly ingested. Handling the plant may cause skin irritation or an allergic reaction.