Iris croatica is a bearded rhizomatous species of iris (subgenus Iris) endemic to Croatia.
Description
It has branched stems and dark violet flowers.[1] Like other irises, it has 2 pairs of petals, 3 large sepals (outer petals), known as the 'falls' and 3 inner, smaller petals (or tepals), known as the 'standards'.[2]: 17 The standards are slightly paler than the falls, they have white veining on the throat. It has a beard which is whitish yellow, and the spathes are slightly tinged with red-violet, like those of Iris aphylla.[1]
Genetics
As most irises are diploid, having two sets of chromosomes, this can be used to identify hybrids and classification of groupings.[2]: 18 It was counted as 4n=48 (making it a tetraploid).[3]
Taxonomy
It was described in 1962 by botanists Ivo and Marija Horvat,[4][5] in 'Acta Bot. Croatica', Issue 20–21 on page 8.[1][6] Then in 1981, Brian Mathew in his book 'The iris', reclassified it a synonym of Iris germanica.[1][7][8]
^Horvat, Ivo; Horvat, Marija (1961–1962). "Iris croatica – nova vrsta perunike u Hrvatskoj". Acta Botanica Croatica (in Croatian). 20/21. Zagreb: Division of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb: 7–20. ISSN0365-0588.