Iris tuberosa explained

Iris tuberosa (formerly Hermodactylus tuberosus) is a species of tuberous flowering plant of the genus Iris, with the common names snake's-head,^[1] snake's-head iris, widow iris, black iris, or velvet flower-de-luce.

Distribution

A native of the Mediterranean region, it is found in the northern Mediterranean littoral and western Europe.^[2]

It can be found in Albania, France, Greece, and Italy.^[3]

Cultivation

It is grown from tubers planted in the autumn. It grows best in full sun to partial shade, and requires well-drained soil. It can naturalise in grassy areas but grows well in rock gardens or containers.^[4] It is a common ornamental garden plant, flowering in early spring. It is rather tender in the UK.^[5]

Taxonomic history

After being split off from the genus Iris in the nineteenth century into a separate genus,^[6] Hermodactylus, it has most recently been returned to the genus Iris,^{[7] [8]} following molecular studies at Kew.^[9] According to the proposed molecular classification of irises of Tillie, Chase and Hall,^[9] this species is now best seen as a member of the subgenus Hermodactyloides, the reticulate-bulbed bulbous irises.

Bibliography

• Telegraph: How to grow Hermodactylus
• Book: Manning, John . Goldblatt, Peter . The Iris Family: Natural History & Classification . Timber Press . Portland, Oregon. 204–207 . 2008. 978-0-88192-897-6.
• Goldblatt, P., (1990) Phylogeny and classification of Iridaceae. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 77:607-627.
• Reeves, G., Chase, M.W., Goldblatt, P., Rudall, P., Fay, M.F., Cox, A.V., LeJeune, B., & Souza-Chies, T., (2001). Molecular systematics of Iridaceae: Evidence from four plastid DNA regions. Am. J. Bot. 88:2074-2087.
• Iridaceae: in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval

Notes and References

1. Thomas Ignatius M. Forster (1828)
2. Web site: Plants Profile - Hermodactylus tuberosus (L.) Salisb. (Iridaceae) - Bellavedova - Widow Iris. 2021-09-24. luirig.altervista.org.
3. Web site: Iris tuberosa L. Plants of the World Online Kew Science. 2021-09-24. Plants of the World Online. en.
4. http://www.paghat.com/snakeheadiris.html Paghat's Garden Paghat's Garden: Snake's-head or Widow Iris
5. Caledonian Horticultural Society, Edinburgh
6. http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/iris/genus.html David Joyce: The Genus Iris
7. http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Hermodactylus Pacific Bulb Society
8. Web site: Is It Clear, My Friend?. 3 Sep 2011 . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

   World Checklist of Selected Plant Families

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9. http://www.rspi.uniroma1.it/index.php/Annalidibotanica/article/download/9068/9008 Tillie N, Chase MW, Hall T. 2002 Molecular studies in the genus Iris L.: a preliminary study. Ann. Bot. n.s. (Italy) 1. (2): 105–112 (2001)