Iris haematophylla var. valametica Herb. ex Hook. (1839)
Iris longipetala var. montana Baker (1892)
Iris missouriensis f. alba H.St.John (1960)
Iris missouriensis var. albiflora Cockerell (1889)
Iris missouriensis f. angustispatha R.C.Foster (1937)
Iris missouriensis var. arizonica (Dykes) R.C.Foster (1937)
Iris missouriensis var. pelogonus (Goodd.) R.C.Foster (1937)
Iris missuriensis M.Martens (1840)
Iris montana Nutt. ex Dykes (1913)
Iris pariensis S.L.Welsh (1986)
Iris pelogonus Goodd. (1902)
Iris tolmieana Herb. (1840)
Limniris missouriensis (Nutt.) Rodion. (2007)
Iris missouriensis (syn. I. montana) is a hardy flowering rhizomatousspecies of the genusIris, in the family Iridaceae. Its common names include western blue flag, Rocky Mountain iris,[4] and Missouri flag.
It is native to western North America. Its distribution is varied; it grows at high elevations in mountains and alpine meadows and all the way down to sea level in coastal hills.[5][6]
Description
Iris missouriensis is an erect herbaceous rhizomatous perennial, 20 to 40 centimetres (7+7⁄8 to 15+3⁄4 in) high, with leafless unbranched scapes (flowering stems) and linear basal leaves, 5 to 10 mm wide, similar in height to the scapes. The inflorescence usually consists of one or two flowers, exceptionally three or four. Each flower has three light to dark blue, spreading or reflexed sepals lined with purple and three smaller upright blue petals.[7][8][9][10] They produce a large fruit capsule.[11]
The plant populations often spread outwards from the older plants, leaving a dead opening in the center of a growing ring.[11]
This iris is listed as a weed in some areas, particularly in agricultural California. It is bitter and distasteful to livestock and heavy growths of the plant are a nuisance in pasture land. Heavy grazing in an area promotes the growth of this hardy iris.[9]
The plant is widely cultivated in temperate regions.[16]
Toxicity
The plant is toxic, particularly the rootstalks, which contain the potentially lethal irisin.[11]
^Sullivan, Steven. K. (2015). "Iris missouriensis". Wildflower Search. Retrieved 2015-06-16.
^"Iris missouriensis". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture; Natural Resources Conservation Service. 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-16.
^Klinkenberg, Brian, ed. (2014). "Iris missouriensis". E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Retrieved 2015-06-16.
^Giblin, David, ed. (2015). "Iris missouriensis". WTU Herbarium Image Collection. Burke Museum, University of Washington. Retrieved 2015-06-16.
^ ab"Iris missouriensis". Jepson eFlora: Taxon page. Jepson Herbarium; University of California, Berkeley. 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-16.
^Camazine, Scott; Bye, Robert A. (1980). "A Study of the Medical Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians of New Mexico", Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2: 365–388 (p. 373)