Iris tenax subsp. klamathensis

Orleans iris, Orleans Iris

Family: Iridaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Orleans iris is a rare (CNPS 4.3) California native perennial found in western Klamath Ranges near Orleans, Humboldt County in shaded mixed-evergreen forests at elevations of 80 to 800 meters. Flowering in May, this plant produces pale buff yellow flowers with deep maroon or brown veins, 5 to 7 centimeters long with elliptic sepals and narrowly elliptic petals. Growing with unbranched stems 10 to 30 centimeters tall emerging from thin rhizomes, it has basal leaves 2 to 4 millimeters wide and 1 to 3 cauline leaves that transition from bract-like at the base to leaf-like near the stem tip. Its leaves and flowers are arranged with distinctive spreading bracts 4 to 7 centimeters long and 8 to 12 millimeters wide, positioned near the stem tip. The plant features intricate style branches 35 to 41 millimeters long with triangular stigmas and an ovary with triangular wings.

Habitat: Shaded mixed-evergreen forests

Bloom period: May

Elevation: 80-800 m

Bioregions: w KR (near Orleans, Humboldt Co.).

California counties: Humboldt, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Siskiyou, Trinity

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