Popular Studies of California Wild Flowers 53 



Iris (Iridaceae) 



By Roland Rice 



The nine or more species of Iris we have in California bring 

 a message of the return of fair seasons in the rainbow tints of their 

 blooms. There is the pale light of dawn, touched with purple and 

 cream, in the Douglas Iris (Iris douglasiana) to be found during 

 May and June in the Coast Range mountains ; and in the deep blue 

 of the small Ground Iris (Iris macrosiphon) are reflected the azure 

 skies of winter and spring, on the green carpeted hills of San Mateo 

 County and northward along the coast. There is a lighter blue, for 

 the later seasons, when the Western Blue Flag (Iris missouriensis) 

 spills a flood of color over the fields of the Sierras and becomes 

 almost white at the desert rim of Mono County. Lavender and 

 yellow are the Hartweg Iris (Iris hartwegii) in the shade of the 

 coniferous forests on the middle heights of the Sierras in early 

 summer; and from Point Isabel to Monterey, there are the light 

 violet petals and white sepals touched with spots of orange and 

 veined with lilac of the Bog Iris (/. longipetala). They are brave 

 flowers, these Iris, which form stout clumps in the wet, wind-swept 

 marshes of our coast, or struggle with dry slopes and the gloom of 

 forests ; so that they have become toughened under their smooth 

 texture, and their slender leaves have strong fibers as proof of their 

 hardiness. 



The Iris Family is a large one of over five hundred members 

 and about fifty groups, of which more than one hundred and seventy 

 species are in the Iris group. The rest are known in our gardens 

 as Gladioli, Ixia, Trigidia, Crocus, and in our fields the Sisyrin- 

 chium, which is our only other genus in California and contains 

 about four members known as Blue Eyed Grass and Golden Eyed 

 Grass. The Blue Flag is characteristic of the Eastern States ; in 

 Europe the yellow varieties are found, but in California they are 

 most variable in colors. 



The Iris has held a prominent place in history and legend from 

 olden times. In ancient Babylon and Assyria it was known as the 

 symbol of royalty. The Egyptians used the flower in their archi- 

 tecture. On the brow of the Sphinx, and the scepters of their rulers, 

 it was the symbol of eloquence and power. The Greeks gave the 

 Iris the name of the "Goddess of the Rainbow," because they were 

 arrayed in her colors, and were used to indicate a good message ; for 

 the goddess "Iris," as Juno's messenger, held her position by bearing 

 only pleasant tidings. If the translation of the Hebrew word 

 "Supnh" is correct, it was among the Flags, beside the river Nile, 

 that Moses was laid, where his sister could watch him. 



As a religious symbol, the Iris is sacred to the Virgin Mary; 

 and Charles VI. of France reduced the number of fleur-de-lis, used 

 in emblazoning the French coat-of-arms, to three, supposedly in 

 recognition of the Holy Trinity. The flowers were chosen as the 

 floral emblem of King Luis VII., the gallant crusader, and were 

 called by his soldiers the "Flowers of Luis," which, later, it is 



