Lazistan iris

Description

Iris lazica, the Lazistan iris, is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae, native to the Black Sea coast of Turkey and Georgia, and also cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions. Growing to 30 cm (12 in) tall, it is a beardless rhizomatous iris with broad evergreen leaves, producing stemless flowers which are shorter in stature than the foliage, and which appear in late winter or early spring. The flower colour is typically pale lilac. Exceptionally for an iris in its group, this species prefers moist conditions and will tolerate some shade. Irises are perennial plants, growing from creeping rhizomes (rhizomatous irises) or, in drier climates, from bulbs (bulbous irises). They have long, erect flowering stems which may be simple or branched, solid or hollow, and flattened or have a circular cross-section. The rhizomatous species usually have 3–10 basal sword-shaped leaves growing in dense clumps. The bulbous species have cylindrical, basal leaves. The inflorescences are in the shape of a fan and contain one or more symmetrical six-lobed flowers. These grow on a pedicel or peduncle. The three sepals, which are usually spreading or droop downwards, are referred to as "falls". They expand from their narrow base (the "claw" or "haft"), into a broader expanded portion ("limb" or "blade") and can be adorned with veining, lines or dots. In the centre of the blade, some of the rhizomatous irises have a "beard" (a tuft of short upright extensions growing in its midline), which are the plant's filaments. The three, sometimes reduced, petals stand upright, partly behind the sepal bases. They are called "standards". Some smaller iris species have all six lobes pointing straight outwards, but generally limb and standards differ markedly in appearance. They are united at their base into a floral tube that lies above the ovary (known as an epigynous or inferior ovary). The three styles divide towards the apex into petaloid branches; this is significant in pollination.