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Iris sibirica
Also called German Iris, Turkish Iris, Sibirian Flag
Siberian iris is a clump-forming rhizomatous perennial with grass-like leaves and violet-blue flowers, widely grown as an ornamental in temperate gardens. It does best in moist, fertile, neutral to slightly acidic soil.
Iris sibirica, commonly known as Siberian iris or Siberian flag, is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae. It is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial, from Europe (including France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Former Yugoslavia, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Ukraine and northern Turkey) and Central Asia (including Armenia, Azerbaijan and Siberia). It has long green grass-like leaves, tall stem, 2–5 violet-blue, to blue, and occasionally white flowers. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions.
Generally the 28 chromosome hybrids are easier to grow than the Sino-Siberians.
The iris will tolerate temperatures down to −20 °C (−4 °F). It is hardy to USDA Zone 2–8, and Zone H1 (which means hardy to −20 °C (−4 °F) and below (−40 °C (−40 °F)),), in Europe. It is hardy in the UK. If the plants are mulched in winter they can withstand colder temperatures.
Like many other irises, most parts of the plant are poisonous (rhizome and leaves), if mistakenly ingested can cause stomach pains and vomiting. Also handling the plant may cause a skin irritation or an allergic reaction. However an edible starch has been extracted from the plant in China, similar to Iris ensata. The root has also been used to create an insecticide and an expectorant.
Iris sibirica is native to temperate areas between Europe and Central Asia. It has the widest distribution range of all the Siberian iris series.
Johan Peter Falk noted that the Tara Tartars of Russia (West Siberia) coloured cloth yellow with Iris sibirica flowers and the Votyaks, Mordvins and Kalmyks derived red dye from Galium species.
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 sibirica 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.
