Iris narbutii

Iris narbutii is a species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus of Scorpiris. It is a bulbous perennial. It is sometimes misspelt as 'Iris narbuti'.^[2][3]

It was first published as 'Juno Narbutii' by Olga Fedtschenko in 'Izvestiya Imperatorskago Obscestva Ljubitelej Estestvoznanija, Antropologii i Etnografii, Sostojascago pri (Imperatorskom) Moskovskom Universitete' in 1902.^[4] It was later published as 'Iris Narbutii' by Boris Fedtschenko in Bull. Jard. Bot. St. Petersb. Vol.V page157 in 1905.^[5]

Iris narbutii is now an accepted name by the RHS.^[6]

It is listed in 1995 in 'Vascular plants of Russia and adjacent states (the former USSR)' by Czerepanov, S. K.^[7]

It may have been named after 'Narbuta Beg'(1774-1798), a grandson of 'Abd al-Karim' (Khanate of Kokand) of the Fergana Valley, Central Asia, where the iris was found.^[8]

It can be seen growing in the 'Le Grand Clos Botanique Garden' in Bourgueil, France.^[9]

It can be cultivated in pots,^[10] or in well drained soils in sunshine (like other Juno irises).^[11]

Habit

Iris narbutii has a brown bulb with papery tunic,^[10] the bulb is approx. 2 centimetres (0.79 in) in diameter.^[12] It has thickened roots,^[5] which look similar to fat short pointed tubers.^[13]

One of the shorter Juno irises, similar to Iris Lepthoriza,^[10] only growing to a height of 5–10 cm (2.0–3.9 in).^{[5][11][14][15]}

It blooms in early-mid spring,^[12] flowering between January to April depending on the weather conditions.^[5][10][11] It has 1 or 2 scentless flowers per bulb stem.^[5][12][14]

The flowers come in a range of shades between greenish-yellow to pale violet.^[10][11][14] The green-purple perianth tube is about 4–5 cm (1.6–2.0 in) long.^[5][12] It has standards (3.5–5 cm or 1.4–2.0 in) that hang downwards.^[11][15][16] It has falls that start upright, but then the blade bends downwards, with a dark violet blotch at the tip. They have a raised white crest surrounded by a yellow zone/area.^{[10][11][14][15][16]} The yellow zone can sometimes have a dark purple ring around it.^[12]

It has whitish pollen.^[5]

The thin, channelled dark green leaves emerge before the flowers, they are 5–25 mm wide (close to the base of the plant).^[5][11][12] They gradually narrow to an apex (falcate-like, lanceolate)^[10] and have a very visible white edging/margin.^[5]

Native

Iris narbutii is from Central Asia.^[14][16] Originally found on the slopes of Syr-Darya river valley.^[5][15]

It is found on the rocky, gravelly slopes of the mountains of western Tien Shan and southern Pamir Mountains.^[12] Also seen near to Samarkand and Tashkent.^[5]

Olga Fedtschenko had speculated that the plants from west Tien Shan, could be a separate species, due to their paler colour.^[5]

In Chulbair Mountains, Uzbekistan, it is a threatened species and close to extinction.^[10]

Known hybrids

• Iris narbutii 'Kara Kaga'^[16]

In Russia, Vvedenskii had noted several natural hybrids including; J. narbutii x J maracandica (near Jizzak, Uzbekistan), J. narbutii x J. Orchioides and J. narbutii x J. subdecolorata (near Darbaza, Kazakhstan).^[12]

References

External links

• Image of Iris narbuttii on flickr
• Many images of Iris narbutii

Media related to Iris narbutii at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Iris narbutii at Wikispecies