Plant
Iris
Iris (genus)
Also known as: Iris, flag iris
A genus of around 300 species of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae — distributed across the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The bearded irises and Japanese irises are among the most-cultivated ornamental flowers in the world. The flower's three-part symmetry was the model for the heraldic *fleur-de-lis* — the symbol of French royalty for nearly 1,000 years. Van Gogh's *Irises* (1889), painted in the asylum garden at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, is one of the most famous flower paintings in Western art.
Scientific
Iris contains ~300 species across the temperate Northern Hemisphere. Principal cultivar groups:
- Bearded irises — Iris germanica and hybrids; the showy German irises with fuzzy “beards” on the falls
- Japanese irises — Iris ensata and hybrids; large flat flowers, typically blue or purple
- Siberian irises — Iris sibirica and hybrids; smaller, more delicate
- Yellow flag iris — Iris pseudacorus; aquatic, naturalized invasive in many regions
The genus’s name is the Greek word for “rainbow” — applied to the flower because of the wide color range across the species. The Greek goddess Iris was the personification of the rainbow and the messenger between mortals and gods.
The plant is well-known to pharmacognosy as a source of orris root (from Iris germanica and related species) — the powdered rhizome used as a fixative in perfumery. Orris is one of the most expensive perfumery raw materials, requiring 3–5 years of aging before the violet-like aroma develops fully.
Cultural and artistic
The fleur-de-lis — the heraldic emblem associated with French royalty for nearly 1,000 years — is a stylized representation of an iris flower (specifically, the yellow flag iris Iris pseudacorus). Legend traces the symbol to Clovis, king of the Franks ~500 CE, but documented use begins with the Capetian dynasty in the 12th century. From the French monarchy, the fleur-de-lis spread to many derivative heraldic uses — the [[french-quarter|New Orleans]] Saints, the Boy Scouts, Quebec’s flag, and countless coats of arms.
Vincent van Gogh’s Irises (1889) was painted during his stay at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in the year before his death. The painting sold in 1987 for $53.9 million, briefly the highest price ever paid for a painting. It now hangs at the J. Paul Getty Museum in [[echo-park|Los Angeles]].
The state of Tennessee, Croatia (where Iris croatica is the national flower), and Brussels (where the iris is the regional emblem) all have iris associations at the state or municipal level.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Shares approach with: [[willow]] · [[saffron]] · [[poplar]] · [[plane-tree]] · [[oak]] · [[linden]]
- Member of: [[plants]]
Sources
- Wikipedia — Iris (plant)
A plant entry in the 0mn1.one [[directory]].
What links here, and how
Inbound connections from across the wiki, grouped by lens and by relationship. These appear automatically — every entity page declares what it links to, and that data populates here on the targets.
Cultural
shares approach with
- Gladiolus auto-linked from body mention
1 inbound link · 7 outbound