Iris serotina
Iris serotina is a species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus Xiphium. It is a bulbous perennial from southern Europe, found in Spain and Morocco.
Description
Iris serotina grows to a maximum height of tall and the narrow leaves are 2–6 mm wide and grow between tall. They appear in the autumn, but then fade before flowering.It normally has 2 - 3 flowers per stem, and generally blooms in late July, or August.
Like other irises, it has 2 pairs of petals, 3 large sepals, known as the 'falls' and 3 inner, smaller petals, known as the 'standards'. It has blue-violet flowers, the petals are veined with a deeper violet colour, and the falls are marked with a yellow patch.
Its seeds are small, yellow and semi-circular.
Taxonomy
The specific epithet serotina, refers to the Latin word, 'serotina' meaning late in flowering.In 1861, Heinrich Moritz Willkomm described Iris serotina after seeing plants from Province of Jaén (Spain). Originally, he called it Iris filifolia, but this was later corrected to Iris serotina. Then published in 'Prodromus Florae Hispanicae' Vol.1 in 1861. It was later illustrated in Curtis's Botanical Magazine No.733 in 1977.
Iris serotina is an accepted name by the RHS, and it was verified by United States Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service on 4 April 2003, then updated on 3 December 2004.