Iris Setosa

[johnstephen29]

Hi I have a new iris plant Iris Setosa which is already flowering, I know the reticulate flower at this time of year, but not this.

[Gerhard Raschun]

For me it looks like I. lazica, which would be also in flower yet......

[David Nicholson]

I agree.

[johnstephen29]

Thanks guys I bought it off eBay as iris setosa, I'll change the label.

[Lesley Cox]

Yes, much too early for I. setosa, I should think about May for you, and setosa has almost no standards, just what are often described as "bristles" though this is not accurate really. They are, however, very short and un-standardlike. The colour is usually a rich violet though there are white and pink forms and forms of various sizes from very tiny to about 50-70cms high.

The picture below of a setosa x sibirica group hybrid, says a little about it in that the parts which are seen to be erect are the style arms while the standards are smaller and less prominent. I have a super pic of setosa but in an old print, not on my digital. Must rectify that.

[johnstephen29]

Thanks Lesley, is my I. Lazica flowering when it should then? It just seems really early for this type or maybe it is because of the really mild winter we have been having.

[David Nicholson]

John mine is in full flower now and has been for weeks and is normally in flower at this time of year. I think I had my first flower around Christmas.

[Lesley Cox]

As David says,(more or less)  that group (Unguiculares) which includes I. lazica have winter flowers in most cases, varying a little from early winter to mid spring starting dates, so yes, lazica would be well out now - for you.

[David Nicholson]

John, if you do a Forum Search on Iris lazica you will come up with a load of information. It's at the top of the Forum page, fourth item on the main menu.

[johnstephen29]

Hi David, Lesley thanks very much for your advice, I tried the Algerian Iris once and failed with it miserably. I'm glad I am having success with its relative

[Tom Waters]

I. unguicularis (of which I. lazica is sometimes considered a variant, certainly a closely allied species), was for a long time known as I. stylosa. Perhaps that is similar enough that someone along the way tried to look up "stylosa" and found "setosa" as the nearest possibility.

[Lesley Cox]

It could be Tom. Heaven knows, plants accumulate spurious names by many different means. A saxifraga was marketed in New Zealand for some years as 'Helen' because the original provider of cutting material to a nursery was called Helen B..... And I myself accidentally wrote Iris tenax on a batch of labels for nursery plants when i should have put tectorum (or maybe it was the other way around), a genuine mistake but unforgivable in the long run if people were then growing those irises under the wrong name.