Iris koreana
Iris koreana, also known as dwarf woodland Korean iris, is a beardless iris in the genus Iris, in the subgenus Limniris and in the series Chinenses of the genus. It is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial from Korea.
Description
Iris koreana is similar in form to Iris minutoaurea and Iris odaesanensis,. William Rickatson Dykes thought that Iris koreana was a larger form of Iris minutoaurea, but Iris koreana is more robust than Iris minutoaurea.It is also similar to the American woodland native, Iris cristata.
It has slender rhizomes that are small, long, fine and have many branches.
Due to its spreading ability, it is thought it could be used as a ground cover plant.
It has narrow, smooth, glossy green, and ensiform leaves, that are long than the flowering stems. They grow up to long and wide. The leaves have prominent veins and are faintly tinged red at base.
Iris koreana and Iris minutoaureas also have the habit of their foliage growing longer after they have flowered.
It has an unbranched stem, up to tall.
It has 2 terminal flowers, that bloom in early summer, between April and May.
It has a perianth tube that is longer than the spathes.
The flowers are small, about in diameter.
They come in yellow shades, between bright yellow to pale yellow.
It has 2 pairs of petals, 3 large sepals, known as the 'falls' and 3 inner, smaller petals, held at a horizontal angle, have pleated edges and have brown markings on the hafts. The smaller and shorter standards are paler, almost erect and have a notch at the ends.
The style branches are the same colour as the standards but narrow and acuminate.
In June and July, it produces green, globose seed capsules. Inside are obovate or occasionally circular, smooth, glabrous and brown or dark henne coloured seeds. Which are long and wide.
Biochemistry
As most irises are diploid, having two sets of chromosomes. This can be used to identify hybrids and classification of groupings. It has a chromosome count: 2n=20.Taxonomy
Iris koreana is pronounced as EYE-ris kor-ee-AH-nuh.It is written as 노랑붓꽃 in Korean language.
It has the common name of Dwarf woodland Korean iris.
The Latin specific epithet koreana refers to the country where it was found, Korea.
It was first published and described by Takenoshin Nakai in 'Repertorium Specierum Novarum Regni Vegetabilis', Vol.2 in 1914.
It was verified by United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service on 4 April 2003.
Iris koreana and Iris rossii are on the list of legally protected species, rare plants and endemic plants in the Dakibong and Bonghwabong regions of Korea.
Native
Iris koreana is native to temperate areas of Asia.Range
It is only found in Korea.It is found in various national parks including Jirisan, Gyeongju, Seoraksan, Songnisan, Naejangsan, Sobaeksan, Wolchulsan and Byeonsan bando.
One reference mentions that it is also native to China, but this might only mean cultivated and then naturalised within China.
Habitat
It prefers to grow in dry woodlands, and forests.Cultivation
Iris koreana is thought easy to grow in typical to dry woodland garden conditions.It is hardy between USDA Zone 4a and 8b..
It prefers positions in part sun to light shade, and it likes soils that are moist, rich and between strongly acidic too alkaline.
It can be propagated by division, cutting the rhizome into large sections to be re-planted.
It can also be grown from seed, collected from the plant, as the collected seed does not store very well, it is recommended to sow the seed as soon as possible.
The iris is thought to be resistant to deer.
It is only available from a few select specialty nurseries in the US.
It is rarely cultivated in British gardens.