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Thick Root Iris

Iris tigridia

Thick Root Iris
Photo: Vladimir Yu. Arkhipov, Arkhivov, CC BY-SA 4.0

Iris tigridia is a small, grass-leaved rhizomatous perennial iris from north-east Asia that makes compact tufts and single violet to purple flowers on a short stem. It needs sun, well-drained soil and a dry, cold-winter climate, and it suits rock gardens.

Family
Iridaceae (Iris family)
Grows as
Grass, Perennial
Light
Full sun
Water
Water moderately while establishing, then let it dry out; protect from winter wet.
Soil
Well-drained soil or gritty mix.
Temperature
Hardy to about -10 to -15 °C (Zone H3); protect from winter moisture where winters are wet.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Toxic: Rhizome and leaves are poisonous if swallowed, causing stomach pain and vomiting; handling may irritate skin or cause allergic reaction.
Native range
SW. Siberia to China
Climate
temperate

About

Iris tigridia is a plant species in the genus Iris; it is also in the subgenus Iris and in the section Pseudoregelia. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia and China. It has dark green or greyish green, grass-like leaves, a short slender stem and a single (or rarely 2) flowers that are either violet, dark blue, blue-purple, dark purple, mauve, lilac, lavender, or light purple. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions.

How to grow it

It is hardy to Zone H3 in Europe, meaning that it is hardy to −10 to −15 °C (14 to 5 °F). In non-hardy areas, it can be grown in an alpine house or bulb frame due to the fact that the plant needs to be protected from winter moisture.

It has been tested for hardiness in Russia, in the botanical gardens of Barnaul (the South-Siberian Botanical Garden), Novosibirsk (Central Siberian Botanical Garden), Chita (Trans-Baikal Botanical Garden) and Saint Petersburg Botanical Garden. Only in St. Petersburg, it was found to be not hardy.

Safety

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.

Where it grows

It is native to temperate Asia.

Uses

It is used in gardens, also in herbal medicines, and as a fodder plant for farm animals.

Other Iris plants

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 tigridia 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.

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