Iris brandzae

Iris brandzae is a species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus Limniris and in series Spuriae. It is a rhizomatous perennial plant, originally from Romania with violet and white flowers. It was once thought to be a subspecies of Iris sintenisii, but now classified as a separate species. It is also called Iris Brandzy or Prodan Iris in Russia. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions.

Iris brandzae
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Iridaceae
Genus: Iris
Subgenus: Iris subg. Limniris
Section: Iris sect. Limniris
Series: Iris ser. Spuriae
Species:
I. brandzae
Binomial name
Iris brandzae
Synonyms[1]
  • Iris sintenisii subsp. brandzae Prod.

Description

Iris brandzae is similar in form to Iris sintenisii, but with several differences, including leaf form, flower shape and spathe form.[2][3][4]

It has an (un-described) rhizome,[5] which can forms small clumps of plants.[6]

It has grass-like leaves that are very narrow,[7][8][9] erect, greenish blue, rough or scabrid (to the touch), and not evergreen.[2][6][10] They can grow up to between 30–35 cm (12–14 in) long,[11] and 1.5–3.5 mm wide.[9][10][12] The leaves also have 2–5 prominent veins.[2][10]

Unlike Iris sintenisii,[2] it has stems that are generally taller than the leaves, which can grow up to between 20–45 cm (8–18 in) tall.[5][13][14] The stems have strongly inflated, green spathes, (leaves of the flower bud),[2][4][9] which also have prominent veining.[10]

It has flowers that are similar in form to other dwarf spurias.[6] and they have 2 terminal (top of stem) scented flowers,[11] that begin blooming in the spring,[6][12] between April and May.[2][5][14] They come in shades of blue-violet,[6] deep-blue,[14] or blue-purple.[11]

It has 2 pairs of petals, 3 large sepals (outer petals), known as the 'falls' and 3 inner, smaller petals (or tepals, known as the 'standards'.[15] Compared to Iris sintenisii, they have narrow mid tepals (the claws) which are narrow.[3]

After the iris has flowered, it produces a terracotta coloured seed capsule, in the fall (autumn).[12]

Genetics

As most irises are diploid, having two sets of chromosomes, this can be used to identify hybrids and classification of groupings.[15]

In 1948, an analysis was carried out by Tarnavschi, and published as 2n=10,[3][10] which does not match with other spuria irises.[3] Other published counts are 2n=20.[2][16]

Taxonomy

The Latin specific epithet brandzae refers to botanist Dimitrie Brândză (1846–1895).

It is sometimes called Prodan Iris,[17] or Iris Brandzy in Russia.[5][17]

It was originally published and described as Iris brandzae by Iuliu Prodan in Buletinul Gradinii Botanice si al Muzeului Botanic dela Universitatea din Cluj (Bul. Grad. Bot. Univ. Cluj) Vol.15 page103 in 1935.[18][19][20]

It was also published by Czerep, in 1973 Svod Dopolm. Izmen Flora SSSR page301 and then by Geiderman in 1975, Opred. Vyssh. Rast. Mold SSR Ed2 page109.[16]

It was later published as Iris sintenisii Janka subsp. brandzae (Prod.) D.A. Webb & Chater by D.A. Webb & Chater in the 'Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society' (Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 76.) in 1978,.[19][20] It was thought to have a more limited geographical distribution than Iris sintenisii, around Romania.[2] It stayed like this for many years until the authors of the Romanian flora books ('Flora Ilustrata a Romanie' by Ciocarlan 2009 and 'Plante Vasculare din Romania. Determinator ilustrat de teren (Vascular Plants of Romania. An illustrated field guide)' by Sarbu, Stefan et Oprea 2013[21]) re-classified the taxon as an independent and separate species.[1]

Although some references still call it Iris sintenisii Janka subsp. brandzae.[22]

It has not yet been verified by United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service as of February 2015.

Iris sintenisii subsp. brandzae, as of February 2015 was a tentatively accepted name by the RHS.[23]

Distribution and habitat

Iris brandzea is native to Central Europe.[16]

Range

The original specimens were found in Romania.[4][7][9] It is also found in Moldavia,[3][10][16] Bessarabia,[2][11] Asia Minor,[14] and the Carpathians, (in Central and Eastern Europe).[14][16]

Although it is more rarely found, than Iris sintenisii.[13]

Specifically, it can be found on the plains of Romania and Moldova.[3]

Habitat

It grows in very different habitats to Iris sintenisii. It is a (Mesophyte meaning neither dry or wet habitats).[3]

It grows in saline marshes or wet meadows,[2][7][9][10] and forest glades.[16]

It has also been found in steppe forest woodland under Fraxinus pallisiae (Ash trees).[3]

Conservation

In 2003, it (as Iris brandzae) was assessed as 'Rare' in the nature reserve of 'Padurea Harboanca' in Romania.[24]

Cultivation

Iris brandzae is hardy to USDA Zone 5.[6] It is also hardy in Ukraine.[20]

It prefers moist, well drained and humus rich soils.[14]

It prefers positions in semi-shade.[6][14]

It is tolerant of wet springs and hot dry summers.[6]

Iris brandzae is grown in the Botanic Garden of Iasi Iași Botanical Garden, Romania. In the northern part of the garden, called The Section Moldavia Sylvosteppe, along with other plants such as; Crambe tataria, Echium rossicum, Pulsatilla vulgaris ssp. grandis, Beta trigyna, Dianthus capitatus, Artemisia austriaca, Achillea setacea, Astragalus onobrychis, Hyacinthella leucophaea, Plantago schwarzenbergiana, Rumex tuberosus ssp. tuberosus, Crocus reticulatus, Galium moldavicum, Paeonia tenuifolia and Amygdalus nana.[25]

Specimens can be found in Saratov State University, Russia.[26]

Specimens can be found growing in the Botanical Garden of Šiauliai University in Lithuania.[27]

Culture
2015 stamp

In 1961, an illustration of Iris brandzae was used on a postage stamp in Romania. It was issued on 15 August 1961, as part of the series '100 years of Bucharest Botanical Garden'. [28][29][30]

References
  1. "Iris brandzae Prod. is an accepted name". theplantlist.org (The Plant List). 23 March 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  2. British Iris Society (1997) A Guide to Species Irises: Their Identification and Cultivation, p. 255, at Google Books
  3. Badarau, Alexandru (26 April 2014). "Iris brandzae Prodan". floraofromania.transsilvanica.net. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  4. "Iris sintenisii". encyclopaedia.alpinegardensociety.net. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  5. "Iris fancy". atlas-roslin.pl. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  6. Walkup, Ken (4 August 2005). "Re: Iris sintenisii v brandzae". hort.net. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  7. Kramb, D. (2 October 2004). "Iris sintenisii subsp. brandzae". signa.org (Species Iris Group of North America). Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  8. "Iris summary" (PDF). pacificbulbsociety.org. 14 April 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  9. Phillips, Roger; Rix, Martyn (1991). Perennials Vol. 1. Pan Books Ltd. p. 216. ISBN 9780330327749.
  10. Thomas Gaskell Tutin (Editor) Flora Europaea, Volume 5 (1980), p. 89, at Google Books
  11. Cassidy, George E.; Linnegar, Sidney (1987). Growing Irises (Revised ed.). Bromley: Christopher Helm. p. 68,142. ISBN 0-88192-089-4.
  12. "The Small Spurias". kcis.org. Archived from the original on 19 November 2008. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  13. "Chapter II iris clump and other (part3)". irisbotanique.over-blog.com. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  14. "Iris sintenisii ssp. brandzae". alpine-peters.de. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  15. Austin, Claire (2005). Irises: A Gardener's Encyclopedia. Timber Press, Incorporated. ISBN 978-0881927306. OL 8176432M.}
  16. Andreĭ Aleksandrovich Fedoro (Editor) Flora of Russia, Volume 4 , p. 440, at Google Books
  17. "Iris Brandzy". lvgira.narod.ru. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  18. "Iridaceae Iris brandzae Prodan". ipni.org (International Plant Names Index). Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  19. Higgins, Betsy (11 June 2014). "(SPEC) Iris brandzae Prodan". wiki.irises.org (American Iris Society). Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  20. "Ukraine (Europe)". ebotany. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  21. "Book ID: 103290, Sarbu, Ion, Nicolae Stefan and Adrian Oprea". koeltz.com. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  22. Recova, Eva (25 May 2010). "Iris sintenisii". botany.cz. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  23. "Iris sintenisii subsp. brandzae". www.rhs.org.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  24. Sarbu, Ion. "IPA Factsheet – Padurea Harboanca Brahasoaia". plantlifeipa.org (Plantlife). Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  25. "The Moldavia Sylvosteppe Section". botanica.uaic.ro. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  26. "Flora". sgu.ru. Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  27. "Index seminum 2014" (PDF). su.lt. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  28. "Stamp catalog : Stamp ‹ Spuria Iris (Iris sintenisii subsp. brandzae)". colnect.com. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  29. "Monocots Iridaceae Iris". suksm.org. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  30. "Iridaceae". pro.tok2.com. Retrieved 20 February 2015.

Sources
  • Czerepanov, S. K. 1995. Vascular plants of Russia and adjacent states (the former USSR).
  • Mathew, B. 1981. The Iris. 115–116.
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