Dwarf Iris

(Iris verna)

 

Color Photograph: © by and courtesty of Kenneth Walker

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Dwarf Iris (Iris verna)

Identification: Flowers violet, complicated in structure with petals and sepals all showy. Flower with 3 lower "sepals" hanging downward, base without a shoehorn-like appendage (crest) as part of the sepal, but present as a upturned, fringed "petal". "Sepals" veined at base with violet and a basal patch of yellow. Upper 3 "petals" narrow and pointing generally upward. Seedpods elongate, ovate. Leaves elongate, grasslike flattened and overlaping each other. Plant 2 to 6 inches in height.

Distribution: Found near the Atlantic Coast from New York southward to Florida and westward to Ohio and Arkansas.

Habitat: Dwarf Iris is found in sandy soils and coastal barrens along the Atlantic Coast.

Flowering period: March to May.

Dwarf Iris (Iris verna)

Similar Species:

Dwarf Iris is usually described as "crestless". The crest is free of the lower "sepals", pointed upward, and has a fringe. This "crestless" characteristic and the small stature of the plant easily identifies the species.

Similar Species

No Similar Species