Iris verna var. smalliana
Botanical Name: Iris verna var. smalliana (added by D. Kramb, 17-MAY-07)
Botanical Synonyms:
Gattenhofia verna var. smalliana (Sean Zera, 01-DEC-15)
Classification:
Vernae (monotypic) (D. Kramb, 18-MAY-07)
Common Names:
Upland Dwarf Violet Iris (D. Kramb, 18-MAY-07)
Chromosome Count:
2n=42 (Sean Zera, 01-DEC-15)
General Description:
Deep blue to violet or rarely a white spring wildflower with a golden yellow signal on the spreading sepals. The petals are ascending. The one- to two-flowered inflorescence appears before the leaves emerge from the ground. The narrow 5 to 13 mm wide, stiff dark green leaves arise from shallowly rooted creeping rhizomes, 1 to 3 cm between offshoots forming dense clumps. (D. Kramb, 18-MAY-07)
Distinguishing Features:
Iris verna var. smalliana is easily distinguished from Iris verna var. verna. Iris verna var. smalliana plants grow in dense clumps while Iris verna var. verna plants occur significantly further apart in loose colonies. (D. Kramb, 18-MAY-07)
Preferred Habitat:
Commonly found growing in nutrient poor acid soils, in semi-shaded mesic to dry woodland slopes. (D. Kramb, 18-MAY-07)
Hardiness:
N/A
Native Range:
Occurs in the eastern states from New York south to Georgia, west to east central Mississippi, with disjunct populations in the Ouachita mountains of Arkansas and Ozarks of Missouri. (D. Kramb, 18-MAY-07)
Status in the Wild:
N/A
Commercial Availability:
N/A
Sources Cited:
Info entered on 18-MAY-07 comes from the U.S.D.A. Forestry Service website listed below. (D. Kramb, 18-MAY-07)
Additional Comments:
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/iris/dwarfwoodland/iris_verna.shtml (D. Kramb, 18-MAY-07)
Species Iris Group of North America
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