USDA Forest Service Celebrating Wildflowers

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Beauty of It All

Our Native Irises

Dwarf Woodland

Iris cristata

Iris lacustris

Iris tenuis

Iris verna

Our Native Irises: Dwarf Woodland Irises

Iris tenuis: Clackamas Iris

The Clackamas iris occurs in the Clackamas valley in Oregon.

Iris lacustris.
In this beautiful image of the Clackamas iris, note the prominent yellow signal and the attendant the pale purple veins. Photo by William Plotner.

Iris tenuis.
The Clackamas iris has a very limited distribution. The only Forest Service land that it occurs on is the Mt. Hood National Forest. Photo by Carol Wilson, The Genus Iris.

Iris tenuis is a very light pale blue spring wildflower occasionally white. The signal is composed of a series of pale yellow ridges on the spreading sepals. The petals are ascending. The inflorescence has two to three branches with each branch possessing a single flower. The 15 mm wide, stiff dark green leaves arise from shallowly rooted creeping rhizomes, 30cm between offshoots forming loose colonies.

Iris tenuis is commonly found growing in leafy organic soils, in sunny openings in Douglas fir forest.

For More Information

Celebrating Wildflowers Partners

U.S. Forest Service
Rangeland Management
Botany Program

1400 Independence Ave., SW, Mailstop Code: 1103
Washington DC 20250-1103

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Location: http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/iris/dwarfwoodland/iris_tenuis.shtml
Last modified: Monday, 05-Mar-2012 13:02:32 EST