Beach-head iris is a wild iris found on both sides of the North Pacific, in northeastern Asia and northwestern North America. In the US it grows wild only in Alaska, where its violet-blue flowers bloom in wet meadows, bogs, and on rocky shores in early summer. It is also called Alaska iris or wild flag.
Appearance
- Growth form
- Clump-forming perennial spreading by rhizomes; flower stems range from about 4 in to 3 ft (10 cm–1 m) tall.
- Leaves
- Sword-shaped, mid-green leaves, often purplish at the base.
- Flowers
- Violet to blue-purple flowers 2–3 in (5–8 cm) across. The inner petals are reduced to tiny bristles, so each flower looks like it has only three petals.
- Flowering time
- June–July
- Fruit
- Seed capsules ripen in August and September.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Wet meadows
- Bogs
- Rocky shores
- Beach headlands
- Range
- Alaska, Yukon, and northwestern British Columbia in North America; in Asia from Siberia to northeastern China, Korea, and Japan.
- Preferred conditions
- Prefers moist ground and tolerates salt air; extremely cold-hardy.
- Flowering
Flowers Jun–Jul
Flowers Jun–Jul
Growing it
- Care
- Usually rated hardy in USDA zones 3–7. Likes moist to wet soil and part shade; avoid lime and heavy clay that dries out in summer.
- Toxicity
- All parts are poisonous if eaten raw.
Name and classification
- About the name
- Plants from interior Alaska and Canada have been named var. interior; some treatments fold it into the species. The similar beach-head iris of Maine and Atlantic Canada was once listed under this species (as var. canadensis) but is now usually treated as its own species, Iris hookeri.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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