Iris boissieri

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Ordo: Asparagales

Familia: Iridaceae
Subfamilia: Iridoideae
Tribus: Irideae
Genus: Iris
Subgenus: I. subg. Xiphium
Species: Iris boissieri
Name

Iris boissieri Henriq., Bol. Soc. Brot. 3: 183. 1885.

Synonyms

Homotypic
Xiphion boissieri (Henriq.) Rodion., Rod Iris-Iris: 201. 1961.

Heterotypic
Iris diversifolia Merino, Bol. Soc. Aragonesa Ci. Nat. 7: 225. 1908, nom. illeg. non A.Rich. (1850).
Iris heterophylla Merino, Bol. Soc. Aragonesa Ci. Nat. 7: 131. 1908, nom. illeg. non Spreng. (1827).

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: Europe
Regional: Southwestern Europe
NW. Spain to N. Portugal

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Henriques, J.A. (1885) Boletim da Sociedade Broteriana 3: 183.

Additional references

Tutin, T.G., Heywood, V.H., Burges, N.A., Moore, D.M., Valentine, D.H., Walters, S.M. & Webb, D.A. (eds.) 1980. Flora Europaea. Volume 5: Alismataceae to Orchidaceae (Monocotyledones). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge / London / New Rochelle / Melbourne / Sydney, xxxvi + 452 pp., ISBN 0-521-20108-X. Reference page.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2022. Iris boissieri in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2022 Feb 09. Reference page.
Hassler, M. 2022. Iris boissieri. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2022. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published online. Accessed: 2022 Feb 09. Reference page.
Tropicos.org 2022. Iris boissieri. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 09 Feb 2022.
International Plant Names Index. 2022. Iris boissieri. Published online. Accessed: Feb 09 2022.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Iris boissieri in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 2022 Feb 09.

Vernacular names
English: yellowbeard iris
Gaeilge: Lirio de monte

Iris boissieri (also known as the yellowbeard iris), is a species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus Xiphium. It is from Europe, mainly Spain and Portugal. It has blue-purple (or deep purple) flowers with a yellow beard.

Description

It flowers in June.[4] It normally has only one flower per stem.[5] The flower is blue-purple (or deep purple),[5] with a yellow[6] or orange beard.[4] It grows between 30 and 40 cm tall. The leaves appear in spring.[6]

It is the only bearded iris in the 'Xiphion' section.[6]
Taxonomy

It is also known as the 'yellowbeard iris'.[2]

Named after Edmond Boissier (a Swiss botanist 1810-1885).[7]

In 1877, Mr A.W. Tait (from Porto, Portugal) sent the bulbs to Sir Michael Foster who grew them in the UK. It was first described in 1885 by Portuguese botanist Julio Augusto Henriques in Boletim da Sociedade Broteriana Vols. 1-28.[8]

It was also described by Mr Foster in 'The Gardeners' Chronicles' of 1887, vol. ii. page38.[2] It was then described in Curtis's Botanical Magazine 7097 in 1890 again by Mr Foster.[4]

It was verified by United States Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service on 4 April 2003 and then updated on 2 December 2004.[9]
Distribution and habitat

Iris boissieri is native to Europe.[9]
Range

It was originally found in the Serra do Gerês (a mountain range in Portugal), Northwest Spain,[6][9] within (Galicia).[1][10]
Habitat

It likes to grows in rocky shallow soils,[1] at an altitude of 2,000–3,000 feet (610–910 m) above sea level.[2]
Conservation

It was on the 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants.[1][11] It was listed on the European Red List of Vascular Plants in 2011 as Data Deficient (DD).[12]

Very few plants (less than a 1000) were found in Spain in 2004 and less than a 10,000 plants were found in Portugal. Also these numbers were gradually going down as well.[1]

Iris boissieri was listed on Annex IV of the Habitats Directive (of the European Union). It was therefore assessed as 'Critically Endangered'.[10]
Cultivation

It is best grown in a bulb frame.[6]

There is a specimen in the Kew herbarium, collected by Winkler in 1876.[2] There is also a specimen in the 'Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques' in Genève, collected in 1899.[13]
Hybrids and cultivars

Emily Jean Stevens (1900–1967) was a hybridiser of Iris boissieri and Iris juncea in the 1950s.[14]
References

Ortiz, S.; Pulgar Sañudo, I. (2011). "Iris boissieri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011: e.T162312A5572505. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T162312A5572505.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
"(SPEC) Iris boissieri Henriques". wiki.irises.org (American Iris Society). Retrieved 29 July 2014.
"Iris boissieri Henriq. is an accepted name". theplantlist.org (The Plant List). 23 March 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
Lynch, RichardThe Book of the Iris, p. 161, at Google Books
James Cullen, Sabina G. Knees, H. Suzanne Cubey (Editors) The European Garden Flora Flowering Plants: A Manual for the Identification, p. 259, at Google Books
Cassidy, G.E.; Linnegar, S. (1987). Growing Irises (Revised ed.). Bromley: Christopher Helm. pp. 144–145. ISBN 0-88192-089-4.
Stearn, William (1972). A Gardenerer's Dictionary of Plant Names. London: Cassell. ISBN 0304937215.
"Iris boissieri Henriq". apps.kew.org. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
"Iris boissieri". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 6 July 2015.
"Species of the Day – Iris boissieri". natureology101.wordpress.com. 9 December 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
Kerry Scott Walter, Harriet J. Gillett (Editors) 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants, p. 678, at Google Books
Bilz, Melanie; Kell, Shelagh P.; Maxted, Nigel; Lansdown, Richard V. (2011). "European Red List of Vascular Plants" (PDF). ec.europa.eu (Publications Office of the European Union). Retrieved 29 August 2015.
"History: Type of Iris boissieri Henriq. [family IRIDACEAE]". plants.jstor.org. Retrieved 29 July 2014.

"Stevens, Emily Jean". www.teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 29 July 2014.

Other sources

Mathew, B. 1981. The Iris. (Iris) 135.
Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964–1980. Flora europaea. (F Eur)