Iris juncea

Rush iris
Illustration of the Iris juncea by Walter Hood Fitch (Curtis’s Botanical Magazine)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Iridaceae
Genus: Iris
Subgenus: Iris subg. Xiphium
Section: Iris sect. Xiphium
Species:
I. juncea
Binomial name
Iris juncea
Synonyms

Diaphane stylosa Salisb.
Iris mauritanica Ker Gawl.
Xiphion junceum (Poir.) Parl.

Iris juncea (commonly called the rush iris) is a smooth-bulbed bulbous iris species. The name is derived from 'juncea' from the Greek word meaning 'rush-like'.

It was first described by Jean Louis Marie Poiret in 1871. It was then illustrated in Curtis's Botanical Magazine in 1898.

Its flowers are light yellow and fragrant. Normally 2 per stem in summer. It flowers between June and July.

It grows to a height of between 1 and 2 feet. The 3mm wide leaves appear in the autumn and then fade before flowering.

The bulb is reddish-brown in colour.

It can be found in (Algeria and Tunisia) in North Africa, Southern Spain and Sicily.

Other varieties known include;

  • iris juncea var. merimieri (Lynch) Sulphur yellow flowers
  • iris juncea var. numidica (Anon) lemon-yellow flowers (from Africa)
  • iris juncea var. pallida (Lynch) large soft yellow flowers
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