Iris mariae explained

Iris mariae (also commonly known as Negev iris or Mary's iris) is a species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus Iris and in the section Oncocyclus. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from the deserts of Israel, Egypt and Palestine. It is fairly tall, with long and slender glaucous leaves, and in late spring, lilac-purple to pinkish or violet flowers with deeper veining and blackish-violet signal and dark purple beard.

Description

It is a geophyte,[1] [2] with a short rhizome.[3] Around 3 cm long,[4] and it is stoloniferous.[5] Meaning it has several extremely long, secondary roots.[4]

It has 7–8,[5] glaucous, falcate (or sickle-shaped) leaves,[5] [6] [7] that are 10to long,[3] [4] and 0.4to wide.[5] They are very similar to Iris iberica.[4]

It has a stem that can grow up to 15- tall.[8] [9] [10] Which is taller than the foliage.[4] It flowers in late spring, between February and March.[5] [7] [11]

The large flowers are 8- in diameter,[12] and come in shades of lilac,[7] pinkish,[8] [12] or violet.[9] [6] [10]

It has 2 pairs of petals,[1] 3 large sepals (outer petals), known as the 'falls' and 3 inner, smaller petals (or tepals, known as the 'standards'.[13] The recurved and darker falls,[8] are 5cm (02inches) long and 2.5–3 cm wide,[5] with reddish brown,[12] or dark purple veining,[10] [12] and a blackish-violet[9] [10] or deep purple signal patch.[5] [12] [3] In the middle of the falls, also is a row of short hairs called the 'beard', which is black,[5] [4] or purple.[12] [8] [9] The upright standards are larger and paler than the falls, and 6- long and 4 cm wide.[5]

After the iris has flowered, it produces a seed capsule.

Genetics

As most irises are diploid, having two sets of chromosomes. This can be used to identify hybrids and classification of groupings.[13] It has a chromosome count of 2n=20.[4] [9] [10]

Two closely related iris species, Iris atrofusca and Iris mariae, were found to be clearly divergent genetically and phenotypically from each other.[14]

Taxonomy

It is commonly called 'Mary's Iris' or 'Negev Iris'.[11] [1] [7]

It is written in Hebrew as איריס הנגב [11] [1] and in Arabic script as سوسن النقب[1]

It was named after Mary, mother of Jesus,[7] and is sometimes incorrectly called Iris mairiae.[5] [15]

It was originally found in Egypt,[16] and was first named by William Barbey as Iris helenae. Although, that name was already used by Koch for another Iris so M. Barbey has recently withdrawn the name Helenae and the proposed that of Iris mariae.[8] It was then published by Barbey in Oesterr. Bot. Z. Issue 41 on page 207 in 1891.[16]

It was also later published in Gartenflora 42: 343 in 1893, Krel. 1898; Van T. 1900; Van W. in 1906 and the 'Year Book of Iris Society' (Yr. Bk. I.S.(E.)) 43. in 1933.[8]

I. mariae is an accepted name by the RHS,[17] and it was listed in the RHS Plant Finder in 2012.[17] It was verified by United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service on 4 April 2003. and listed in Encyclopedia of Life.[18]

Distribution and habitat

Iris mariae is native to temperate Asia.

Range

It is endemic to Israel[7] [12] [19] and Egypt.[3] [20]

Within Israel it is found in the Negev Desert,[1] [2] [6] including Tze'elim,[11] Palestine (region),[5] [18] and within Egypt on the Sinai Peninsula.[5] [9]

Within IUCN Red Data Book of 2006 there are 6 threatened plant species found near Lake Bardawil, Egypt these include Astragalus camelorum, Bellevalia salah-eidii, Biorum oliveri, Iris mariae, Lobularia arabica and Salsola tetragona.[21]

Habitat

I. mariae grows in sandy semi-desert,[6] or desert sites.[11] [2] [18]

Within the deserts, it can be found in stable sand dunes,[4] (in areas which have an annual precipitation in the range 100–200 mm, [7] [22]) and loessial sand,[3] [20] with Artemisia monosperma.[5]

Conservation

It is becoming increasingly rare. but in Israel, it is protected by law,[11] [6] but still classed as 'endangered'.[18] Unfortunately most of its populations are located outside nature reserves.[6]

It is threatened by illegal harvesting (for the cut flower industry,[23]), climate change, urbanisation, and also from the impacts of modern agriculture.[7]

Cultivation

In Europe, it is hardy to Zone H4,[12] meaning hardy to -5 to -10oC (23 to 14oF)[24] -20°C

It usually requires very good drainage,[4] restricted water and protection from frosts, although keeping it barely dry during the winter, will make it more cold tolerant.[4] [3]

The seed of the iris is deemed easy to germinate but growers should have some experience in growing others in this group of Irises.[20] The seed can be also grown using in-vitro seed germination.[19]

Toxicity

Like many other irises, most parts of the plant are poisonous (rhizome and leaves), and if mistakenly ingested can cause stomach pains and vomiting. Also, handling the plant may cause skin irritation or an allergic reaction.[25]

Variations

Known Iris mariae cultivars: 'Barnumae Mariae'
Known Hybrids;Iris mariae crosses include;Iris mariae × Iris atropurpurea ; 'Brown Prince',[26] 'Spiced Coffee'[27] Iris mariae × Iris hermona ; 'Goren',[28] 'Sa'ar'Iris gatesii × Iris mariae - 'Desert Gem'[29] (Iris mariae × Iris samariae) × self - 'Adva'Iris darwasica × Iris mariae - 'Hesperia'[30] Iris korolkowii × Iris mariae; 'Andromache', 'Artemis',[31] 'Aspasia',[32] 'Dido', 'Eurydice',[33] 'Flora', 'Massilia', 'Medusa' and 'Una',Oncogelia × Iris mariae - 'Bagdad Bauble'[34] Regeliocyclus × Iris mariae - 'Saraglen'[8]

Uses

In 1970, a stamp series named 'Israeli Wild Flowers' was issued by Israel to celebrate Independence Day, it included Iris mariae.[35] [36]

Then in February 2013, an ATM Label Negev Iris was produced, which has an image of the iris on it.[37]

Other sources

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Negev Iris : Protected,Endangered . www.wildflowers.co.il . 31 October 2019.
  2. David Ward
  3. Web site: Iris mariae – RarePlants . www.rareplants.co.uk . 31 October 2019.
  4. Web site: chapitre I (partie 5) Les Oncocyclus II . dictionaire des iridacée . irisbotanique.over-blog.com . 30 November 2019 . fr.
  5. British Iris Society (1997)
  6. Web site: Fragman-Sapir . Ori . Negev Iris . Project Noah . 31 October 2019.
  7. Web site: Blackhall-Miles . Robbie . Plant profile: Iris mariae . Robbie Blackhall-Miles . 1 November 2019 . 25 December 2015.
  8. Web site: Pries . Bob . SpecMariae < Spec < Iris Wiki . wiki.irises.org . 31 October 2019 . 25 July 2016.
  9. Web site: Kramb . D. . SIGNA: The Species Iris Group of North America . www.signa.org . 31 October 2019.
  10. Web site: Iris summary . 14 April 2014 . pacificbulbsociety.org . 23 November 2014.
  11. Web site: Mary's Iris . 101israel . 29 October 2019.
  12. James Cullen, Sabina G. Knees, H. Suzanne Cubey (Editors)
  13. Book: Austin, Claire . Irises: A Gardener's Encyclopedia . Timber Press, Incorporated . 978-0881927306 . 2005 . OL8176432M. }
  14. Volis . Sergei . Zhang . Yong-Hong . Deng . Tao . Dorman . Michael . Blecher . Michael . Abbott . Richard J . Divergence and reproductive isolation between two closely related allopatric Iris species . Biological Journal of the Linnean Society . June 2019 . 127 . 2 . 377–389 . 10.1093/biolinnean/blz014.
  15. Web site: Iris mairiae . nargs.org . 12 November 2019.
  16. Web site: Iridaceae Iris mariae Barbey . ipni.org (International Plant Names Index) . 2 May 2018.
  17. Web site: Iris mariae . rhs.org.uk . 31 October 2019.
  18. Web site: Ori . Fragman-Sapir . Iris mariae . eol.org . 18 November 2019.
  19. Dorman . Michael . Melnikov . Pavel . Sapir . Yuval . Volis . Sergei . Factors affecting dormancy of Oncocyclus iris seeds . Israel Journal of Plant Sciences . December 2009 . 57 . 4 . 329–333 . 1 November 2019 . 10.1560/IJPS.57.4.329 . 31 January 2024.
  20. Web site: Iris mariae – SEEDS OF PEACE . 31 October 2019.
  21. M.A. Zahran and A.J. Willis
  22. Dorman . Michael . Sapir . Yuval . Volis . Sergei . Local adaptation in four Iris species tested in a common-garden experiment . Biological Journal of the Linnean Society . 1 October 2009 . 98 . 2 . 267–277 . 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2009.01265.x . free.
  23. Web site: Botanising Israel, an epic adventure of war and wildflowers, part 1 . 11 May 2014 . fossilplants.co.uk . 2 May 2018.
  24. Web site: Plant Hardiness . theseedsite.co.uk . 20 December 2014.
  25. David G Spoerke and Susan C. Smolinske
  26. Web site: Plant database entry for Aril Iris (Iris 'Brown Prince') with 19 data details. . garden.org . 4 December 2019 . en.
  27. Web site: Plant database entry for Aril Iris (Iris 'Spiced Coffee') with 17 data details. . garden.org . 4 December 2019 . en.
  28. Web site: Plant database entry for Aril Iris (Iris 'Goren') with 17 data details. . garden.org . 4 December 2019 . en.
  29. Web site: Plant database entry for Aril Iris (Iris 'Desert Gem') with 17 data details. . garden.org . 4 December 2019 . en.
  30. Web site: Plant database entry for Aril Iris (Iris 'Hesperia') with 9 data details. . garden.org . 4 December 2019 . en.
  31. Web site: Plant database entry for Aril Iris (Iris 'Artemis') with one image and 11 data details. . garden.org . 4 December 2019 . en.
  32. Web site: William . Dykes . Handbook of Garden Irises . 2009 . 78 . beardlessiris.org (The Group for Beardless Irises) . 1 November 2014.
  33. Web site: Plant database entry for Aril Iris (Iris 'Eurydice') with 10 data details. . garden.org . 4 December 2019 . en.
  34. Web site: Plant database entry for Aril Iris (Iris 'Bagdad Bauble') with 22 data details. . garden.org . 4 December 2019 . en.
  35. Web site: Plants of the world on postage stamps . www.mgsforum.org . 10 November 2019.
  36. Web site: ISRAEL-CIRCA 1970: A post stamp printed in Israel shows flowers.. . 123RF . 10 November 2019 . en.
  37. Web site: ATM Label Negev Iris - Israel Post Shop . www.israelpost.co.il . 9 November 2019.