Iris munzii

Munz's iris, Munz's Iris

Family: Iridaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.3

Munz's iris is a rare (CNPS 1B.3) California native perennial found in southern Sierra Nevada Foothill and southern Sierra Nevada High Sierra regions, specifically in the Greenhorn Mountains of Kern County, growing in wet, grassy sites at elevations of 540 to 800 meters. Flowering in April, this plant produces blue to pale lavender flowers with blue veining, approximately 6 to 8 centimeters long with elliptic sepals and petals. Growing with unbranched stems 38 to 65 centimeters tall emerging from a rhizome roughly 10 to 11 millimeters in diameter, it develops 1 to 4 cauline leaves similar to its basal leaves. Its basal leaves are 12 to 20 millimeters wide with a green base, while the flower clusters typically feature (2)3(4) flowers with spreading bracts. The plant's style branches extend 35 to 55 millimeters long with distinctive crests 13 to 20 millimeters in length.

Habitat: Wet, grassy sites, open to part shade

Bloom period: Apr

Elevation: 540-800 m

Bioregions: s SNF, s SNH (Greenhorn Mtns, Kern Co.).

California counties: Tulare, Kern, Tuolumne

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.