Iris ID?

[Paul T]

Howdy Folks,

Would this be a form of Iris foetidissima?  The ones I am used to have much more yellow in the flower than this, so I am not sure.  Glossy green, evergreen foliage, no idea as yet whether seeds will set etc.  I "think" it is foetidissima, but am definitely happy to be corrected.

Thanks in anticipation.

[Lesley Cox]

Yes, I think it is Paul. It varies in flower from almost yellow to almost purple or blue. Mine is a bit closer to blue than that but all the flowers are sort of indistinct in their colouring with traces of the other shades in their veining etc. You'll know for sure when the pods form and the seeds ripen.

[Paul T]

Thanks, Lesley.  Looking around the net there was alot of variety, but I thought it looked like it.  This is a piece from a friend of mine..... mine is decidedly yellow compared to this one.  I like both of them, and am glad to have this plant to add to mine. 

[Lesley Cox]

I have just the one plant and it turned up from Lord knows where, a seedling in a trough. I only keep it because it's another iris and you know how I am about irises. It adds to the collection. Roger and I had coffee and a muffin at a little cafe ("No 8 with Herbs") in the small nearby village of Outram yesterday and there was a plant of it there and literally hundreds of seedlings in the gravel surrounds. The seeds are beautiful but dangerous.

[BULBISSIME]

Hi Paul, you just have to crumple a leave and to smell it 

[Paul T]

Lesley,

Does yours have the flower like the one in my pics?  My yellow seeds true if you'd like a yellower form.  I'll see if I can dig up pics of it to show the difference.

Fred,

I'll try that and see the result..... although I may regret it given the species name?

[John85]

Iris foetidissima grows wild here and i have never seen a yellowish form.Is it possible that it is a hybrid and what 'd be the pollen plant?

[Paul T]

John,

I think I've seen the name "Aurea" apoplied to it, or 'Citronella" or something like that.  It seeds true for me (or the few that have flowered anyway).

There are apparently forms available with orange, red, white or yellow seeds.  I'd love any of the non-orange seed forms, as the seeds really are the main reason you grow this species, but I've never heard of anyone who actually grows them, just read about them about the place.  

Then there is also 'Variegata', with white striping on the foliage.

[Diane Whitehead]

Yes, but Variegata seldom flowers.  Nice leaves, though, so I don't mind.

I order seeds of other colours from seed exchanges, but the plants haven't
flowered yet - maybe this spring.  I was surprised to receive one packet,
supposed to be from a white-berried plant, but the dried berries looked
rather orange.

[Lesley Cox]

I don't believe there is hybridism involved, just natural variation in the plant. From childhood I saw many plants wiith the yellowish colouring before I ever saw a blue/purple one.

I've also heard of the white-berried form but have never seen it. I foetidissima is one of just two irises not only "not permitted" for import to NZ but specifically prohibited. The other is I. pseudocarous, the first because of its seeds being poisonous and the second because of its potential to clog up waterways. In some areas it has become a real pest. The prohibition aplies to all forms and hybrids of it too. Both species are already here of course, in quantity in some areas.       

[PeterT]

I  once ate the berries of I foetidissima when I was a child. The taste was horriable like the smell. Not so poisonous though, compared to some plants.
I believe the flower colour varies geographically, blue being dominant in Northern Europe and yellow in North Africa and the Western Mediteranian