The Douglas Iris, Iris douglasiana, is a common and attractive wildflower of the coastal regions of Northern and Central California and southern Oregon. The names Iris beecheyana and I. watsoniana have also been used for this plant, but Iris douglasiana has precedence.
The Douglas Iris grows mainly at lower elevations, below 100 metres, though it is occasionally found at heights of up to 1000 metres. It is most common in grasslands near the coasts; it is regarded as a noxious weed in pastures, because it forms clumps that inhibit other vegetation, and its leaves are bitter and unpalatable to cattle.
This is a typical beardless Iris of subgenus Limniris, series Californicae, growing from a rhizome that is typically under a centimetre in diameter. Its leaves are about 2 cm wide. It flowers from April to June. Flowers are usually a purplish-blue, though occasionally white or yellow flowers are found. Two or three flowers are found on each stem, which is of variable height, ranging from 15-80 cm tall.
Several varieties have been recognised, for example Iris douglasiana var. altissima (Jeps.) and Iris douglasiana var. oregonensis (R. C. Foster), but the species is highly variable and the varieties may not be well enough defined to be of much practical use. The Douglas Iris hybridises freely with several other species; its natural hybrid with I. innominata has been designated as Iris ×thompsonii (R. C. Foster), and the garden hybrid with the same species as Iris ×aureonympha (E. H. English).
External links
Entry in the Flora of North America Online (http://flora.huh.harvard.edu:8080/flora/browse.do?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242101699&key_no=1)
Treatment from the Jepson Manual (http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?Iris+douglasiana)
Photographs from the CalPhotos archive (http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?where-genre=Plant&rel-cname=like&where-cname=Douglas+Iris)
Iris is a genus of flowering plants with showy flowers which takes its name from the Latin word for rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species as well as countless garden cultivars.
Iris foetidissima, the Fetid Iris, gladdon or roastbeef plant, the Xyris or stinking gladdon of Gerard, is a native of England south of Durham and also of Ireland, southern Europe and North Africa.
Iris germanica of central Europe, "the most common purple Fleur de Luce" of Ray, is the large common blue iris of gardens, the bearded iris or fleur de luce and probably the Illyrian iris of the ancients.
The DouglasIris, Iris douglasiana, is a common and attractive wildflower of the coastal regions of Northern and Central California and southern Oregon.
It is most common in grasslands near the coasts; it is regarded as a noxious weed in pastures, because it forms clumps that inhibit other vegetation, and its leaves are bitter and unpalatable to cattle.
This is a typical beardless Iris of subgenus Limniris, series Californicae, growing from a rhizome that is typically under a centimetre in diameter.
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