Iris thompsonii

Thompson's iris

Family: Iridaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Thompson's iris is a native perennial found in northern Coast Ranges and Klamath Ranges in Del Norte County, growing on grassy forest edges and slopes at elevations of 90 to 600 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces pale lavender to violet purple flowers occasionally white to gray, with large sepals 4 to 7 centimeters long and wide. Growing with unbranched stems 10 to 25 centimeters tall arising from slender rhizomes, it develops distinctive basal leaves that are narrow and green at the base. Its leaves are three to four millimeters wide, with one to three cauline leaves transitioning from bract-like at the base to leaf-like near the stem tip. The flower features a funnel-shaped perianth tube 17 to 26 millimeters long, with elegant obovate sepals and petals that create a graceful, delicate appearance.

Habitat: Common. Grassy slopes in part shade on forest edge

Bloom period: Apr-May

Elevation: 90-600 m

Bioregions: n NCo, KR (Del Norte Co.)

California counties: Del Norte, Siskiyou

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