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Green fruit
Ripe fruit
Seed dispersal
Distribution
Description & Remarks
Description a cormous perennial herbaceous plant. The corm is covered by reticulate tunics. The green leaves and stem are wrapped in short papery lower leaves. Green leaves, 2, long-linear and usually arched, along which are white dense veins. Due to the production of bulbets besides the corm, a clump of plants is formed and looks like one plant with a lot of leaves. The stem is erect, sometimes slightly branched, bearing an inflorescence of few flowers. The flowers open at noon and wilt towards the evening. Their colour is pale blue (usually in the Mediterranean region) or dark purple (mainly in the desert). The outer perianth segments are 20-40 mm long, 8-12 mm wide, the open flower is 3-4 cm long. The capsule is elongated and pointed, gradually opens downwards, dispersing its seeds in the summer.
Abundance and habitat common throughout the Mediterranean region, the transition zone and semi-desert. Does not penetrate the extreme desert. Grows in batha, shrublet steppes and deserts.
* The species was previously included under the genus Gynandriris and was later lumped under the genus Moraea, which is a large genus of 230 species, most of which are common in Africa south of the Sahara. Few species migrated north and managed to cross the Sahara, established themselves in the Mediterranean basin where they speciated. Other African genera in which a similar phenomenon is observed are Romulea and Gladiolus.
A. Danin & O. Fragman-Sapir (latest update 2023)
Translation Sara Deutch
Family
Additional Names
- Synonym (Scientific):
- Iris sisyrinchium L.
- Synonym (Scientific):
- Gynandriris sisyrinchium (L.) Parl.
- Hebrew with Vowels:
- צַהֲרוֹן מָצוּי
- English:
- Barbary Nut Iris
Characteristics and identification
- Life form (Raunkiaer):
- geophyte
- Spinescence:
- absent
- Succulence:
- non-succulent
- Summer Shedding:
- ephemeral
- Petal or tepal color:
- D.Blue, violet
- Sexuality and Reproductive Morphology:
- Flowers hermaphrodite only
- Sporangia or Seed Homogeneity:
- Homogeneous seeds-fruits
- Habitat:
- Batha, Phrygana, Desert, Shrub-steppes
- Drought Resistence:
- Salt Resistance:
- glycophyte
- Synanthrop:
- mostly natural, also synanthropic
- Chorotype:
- Med - Irano-Turanian
- Drought Resistence2:
