IRIDACEAE

IRIS FAMILY

Elizabeth McClintock, except as specified

Perennial, bulbed, cormed, or rhizomed
Stem generally erect
Leaves generally basal (a few cauline), 2-ranked, ± linear, generally grass-like, generally sharply folded along midrib; bases overlapping, sheathing
Inflorescence: spike, raceme, panicle, ± terminal, or flowers solitary; bracts ± like leaf bases, sheathing
Flower generally bisexual, generally radial; hypanthium fused to ovary; perianth parts generally fused into tube above ovary, generally petal-like, in 2 series of 3, outer (sepals) generally ± like inner (petals); stamens 3, generally attached to sepals, filaments fused below into a tube or not; ovary inferior, 3-chambered, placentas generally axile, style 1, each of 3 branches entire or 2-branched or -lobed, petal-like or not, with stigma on under surface instead of at tip
Fruit: capsule, loculicidal
Seeds few–many
Genera in family: 80 genera, ± 1500 species: worldwide, especially Africa; many cultivated (e.g., Iris, Gladiolus, Crocus, Freesia ).

SISYRINCHIUM

Douglass M. Henderson and Anita F. Cholewa

Perennial; rhizomes compact
Stems single or tufted, generally ± flat and winged or rounded, sometimes with leaf-bearing nodes well above basal leaves, each with 1 or more flower-branches
Leaf narrow, grass-like
Inflorescence: flowers in umbel-like clusters; bracts 2, equal in length or not, margins translucent
Flower ephemeral; perianth reddish purple, bluish, violet, yellow, rarely white, parts ± alike, but outer generally wider; filaments ± completely free to ± completely fused
Seeds ovoid, smooth or pitted
Species in genus: ± 70 species: w hemisphere
Etymology: (Name used by Theophrastus for Iris-like plant)
Reference: [Henderson 1976 Brittonia 28:149–176]

Native

S. idahoense E.P. Bicknell

Stems tufted, < 45 cm, sometimes with 1 or more leaf-bearing nodes, green to glaucous
Inflorescence: translucent margins of inner bract ± uniformly narrow
Flower: perianth 8–17 mm, generally blue to blue-violet, outer parts generally narrowly elliptic or oblanceolate, tips rounded to deeply notched, with a small point
Ecology: Open, moist, grassy places
Elevation: 900–3150 m.
Bioregional distribution: Klamath Ranges, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Great Basin Floristic Province
Distribution outside California: to British Columbia, Montana, Colorado
Highly variable, self- or cross-pollinating. Varieties intergrade.

Native

var. occidentale (E.P. Bicknell) Douglass M. Hend.

Stem: upper margin generally entire
Inflorescence: margins of outer bract fused generally in basal 4.5 mm
Flower: perianth generally < 13 mm
Chromosomes: n=32
Ecology: Habitat of sp.
Bioregional distribution: Sierra Nevada, East of Sierra Nevada
Distribution outside California: to e Washington, Montana, Colorado
Synonyms: S. occidentale E.P. Bicknell
Horticultural information: IRR, DRN: 6, 7, 14, 15, 16 &SUN: 1, 2, 3. 4, 5, 17.