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Iris sanguinea
Also called Bloodred Iris, Japanese Iris
Iris sanguinea, also called blood iris or Japanese iris, is a rhizomatous perennial with reddish-purple flowers in early summer. It is grown for its blooms and does best with moisture during spring and early summer and well-drained soil.
Iris sanguinea is a rhizomatous flowering plant in the genus Iris and in the series Sibiricae. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions. It is one of the species considered a Japanese iris. It is from Asia, found between Russia, Mongolia, China, Japan and Korea. It has grey green leaves, an unbranched flowering stem and flowers in reddish-purple shades, from blue to blue-purple, red-violet, with a rare white variant.
A 2020 taxonomic revision suggests that previously distinguished taxa of Iris sanguinea and Iris sibirica bear no phylogenetic nor morphological distinction. As such, name I. sanguinea was synonymized with I. siberica.
Iris sanguinea is thought to be easy to grow. It is sometimes described as "prolific", meaning it can be invasive when the conditions are optimal.
It will tolerate temperatures of −3.8 °C (25.2 °F) down to −34.4 °C (−29.9 °F). It is hardy to USDA Zone 4–9, and Zone H2 (which means hardy to −15 to −20 °C (5 to −4 °F)), in Europe. It is hardy in the UK, but will not survive wet winters in cooler parts of the world.
As in many other irises, most parts of the plant are poisonous or toxic (rhizome and leaves); if mistakenly ingested, it can cause stomach pains and vomiting. Also handling the plant may cause a skin irritation or an allergic reaction.
Iris sanguinea is native to the temperate regions of eastern Asia.
Iris acutiloba subsp. lineolata · Iris acutiloba · Iris adriatica · Iris afghanica · Iris alberti · Iris albomarginata · Iris alexeenkoi · Single Bract Iris · Iris antilibanotica · Stool iris · Iris arenaria · Iris assadiana
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Iris sanguinea by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
