Editing Iris (plant) (section)

==Description==
[[Image:Iris rhizome p1150371.jpg|thumb|left|[[Rhizome]]s of ornamental irises]]
[[File:Parts of an iris flower.jpg|thumb|left|Illustration of an iris flower with highlighted parts of the flower]]
Irises are [[perennial plant]]s, growing from creeping [[rhizome]]s (rhizomatous irises) or, in drier climates, from [[bulb]]s (bulbous irises). They have long, erect flowering [[Plant stem|stems]] which may be simple or branched, solid or hollow, and flattened or have a circular cross-section. The rhizomatous species usually have 3–10 basal sword-shaped [[Leaf|leaves]] growing in dense clumps.<ref name="efloras">{{cite web |title=Iris in Flora of North America @ efloras.org |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=116503 |website=www.efloras.org |access-date=29 September 2022}}</ref> The bulbous species also have 2–10 narrow leaves growing from the bulb.<ref>James Cullen, Sabina G. Knees, H. Suzanne Cubey and J. M. H. Shaw (Editors) {{google books|CkxWrDqtWLQC|The European Garden Flora Flowering Plants: A Manual for the Identification ... (2011)|page=241}}</ref>

===Flower===
The [[inflorescence]]s are in the shape of a fan and contain one or more symmetrical six-lobed [[flower]]s. These grow on a [[Pedicel (botany)|pedicel]] or [[Peduncle (botany)|peduncle]]. The three [[sepal]]s,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Taylor|first=Ronald J.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/25708726|title=Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary|publisher=Mountain Press Pub. Co|year=1994|isbn=0-87842-280-3|edition=rev.|location=Missoula, MT|pages=72|language=en|oclc=25708726|orig-year=1992}}</ref> which are usually spreading or droop downwards, are referred to as "falls". They expand from their narrow base (the "claw" or "haft"<ref name=merle>{{cite web |title=Parts of an Iris Flower |url=http://www.merlebleu.net/iris-terminology.html |publisher=merlebleu |access-date=28 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035609/http://www.merlebleu.net/iris-terminology.html |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref>), into a broader expanded portion ("limb" or "blade"<ref name=wyman>Donald Wyman {{Google books|XSExQDJtQ7AC|Wyman's Gardening Encyclopedia|page=574}}</ref>) and can be adorned with veining, lines or dots. In the centre of the blade, some of the rhizomatous irises have a "beard", a row of fuzzy hairs at the base of each falls petal which gives pollinators a landing place and guides them to the nectar.<ref>[https://pss.uvm.edu/ppp/articles/bearded.html Growing Beautiful Bearded Iris] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520033512/https://pss.uvm.edu/ppp/articles/bearded.html |date=2022-05-20 }} by Dr. Leonard Perry, University of Vermont</ref>

The three,<ref name=":0" /> sometimes reduced, [[petal]]s stand upright, partly behind the sepal bases. They are called "standards". Some smaller iris species have all six lobes pointing straight outwards, but generally limb and standards differ markedly in appearance. They are united at their base into a floral tube that lies above the [[Ovary (botany)|ovary]] (This flower, with the petals, and other flower parts, above the ovary is known as an epigynous flower, and it is said to have an [[Ovary (botany)#Inferior ovary|inferior ovary]], that is an ovary below the other flower parts). The three styles<ref name=":0" /> divide towards the apex into petaloid branches; this is significant in [[pollination]].

[[File:Iris reichenbachii.JPG|thumb|''[[Iris reichenbachii]]'' fruit]]

The iris flower is of interest as an example of the relation between flowering plants and pollinating insects. The shape of the flower and the position of the pollen-receiving and stigmatic surfaces on the outer petals form a landing-stage for a flying insect, which in probing for nectar, will first come into contact with the [[perianth]], then with the three<ref name=":0" /> stigmatic [[stamen]]s in one whorled surface which is borne on an ovary formed of three [[gynoecium|carpels]]. The shelf-like transverse projection on the inner whorled underside of the stamens is beneath the overarching style arm below the stigma, so that the insect comes in contact with its pollen-covered surface only after passing the [[stigma (botany)|stigma]]; in backing out of the flower it will come in contact only with the non-receptive lower face of the stigma. Thus, an insect bearing pollen from one flower will, in entering a second, deposit the pollen on the stigma; in backing out of a flower, the pollen which it bears will not be rubbed off on the stigma of the same flower.<ref>Pat Willmer {{Google books|1_eWTM2_kfcC|Pollination and Floral Ecology|page=78}}</ref>

The iris fruit is a [[capsule (fruit)|capsule]] which opens up in three parts to reveal the numerous seeds within. In some species, the seeds bear an [[aril]], such as ''[[Iris stolonifera]]'' which has light brown seeds with thick white aril.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Simonet |first1=Marc |last2=Werckmeister |first2=Peter |date=25 January 1965 |title=A Cytogenetic and Descriptive Study of the Trispecific Iris Hybrid 'Stolorine' Werckmeister |journal= Caryologia |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=291–303 |doi=10.1080/00087114.1965.10796173 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
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