Little White Iris
Some of our wild irises are white and some are purple. Are they different strains? Cheryl Lisin of the Lost Coast Interpretive Association answers this question in this week’s wildflower guide.
Iris purdyi has no common name, so I call it little white iris. It starts blooming about a week or two earlier than its larger, more colorful relative, Douglas’ iris. Flowers are creamy white or pale yellow, sometimes with a purple tinge, and often with purple or brown veining. The leaves are narrower than Doug’s iris and the plant is smaller overall. Each flower stalk has two flowers, the top one blooming first.
It is in the Iris family. Besides iris, other California natives in the family are blue eyed grass, golden eyed grass and their relatives in the genus Sisyrinchum. Other family members are mostly from Africa and include freesia, gladiolus and watsonia, to name a few.;
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Just spotted a few of the purple variety at Centerville yesterday
Beautiful!
Very purdy (sic). LOL
Carl Purdy had a native plant nursery in Santa Rosa, I believe…
I like them when they’re a sort of icy lavender — almost not purple at all, more light blue that’s listing into the purple zone — the best. It’s always been a toss up between wild iris and your basic humble daisy, which is my favorite flower. I’m consoled every year when the iris start shriveling that the daisies are then coming on.