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Stinking Iris

Iris foetidissima

Photo by misako
Published on Project Noah
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37.9017, -122.061

Field Notes

Description:

Iris foetidissima (Stinking Iris, Gladdon, Gladwin Iris, Roast-beef Plant, Stinking Gladwin), is a species of Iris found in open woodland, hedgebanks and sea-cliffs.
Its natural range is Western Europe, including England south of Durham and also Ireland, and from France south and east to N. Africa, Italy and Greece.
Stinking Iris seeds
It is one of two iris species native to Britain, the other being the Yellow Iris (Iris pseudacorus). Its flowers are usually of a dull, leaden-blue colour, or dull buff-yellow tinged with blue; the capsules, which remain attached to the plant throughout the winter, are 5-8 cm long; and the seeds scarlet.
It is known as "stinking" because some people find the smell of its leaves unpleasant when crushed or bruised, an odour that has been described as "beefy".
Wikipedia

Habitat:

Walnut Creek City Hall landscape area.

Species ID Suggestions

Stinking Iris

Iris foetidissima

Comments (10)

Thank you for the ID VivBraznell! I was just at the same office last week and the flowers had just finished blooming, so I was not able to get a photo as they were all dried.
Thank you for the ID suggestions Chief RedEarth!
wonderful capture well done Outstanding!
Thank you Emma--I hope I don't have to wait until the plant blooms to find out what it is!
You have pretty good pictures of Red colored Seed pods. Manzanita shrub has beautiful seed pods which are red in color.The pictures do not do justice to it. Misako. i will look into Spider Lily.
@Emma: the plant leaves in my spotting don't match the Gloriosa superba 'Rothschildiana'...
http://floridagardener.com/pom/Gloriosasuperba.htm
http://houseplantsnow.com/2010/02/gloriosa-superba-seed/ these are brilliant orange seed pods of the flame lily.
lovely colors! African iris has seeds that are black, Hmmm......

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