Iris unguicularis
Iris unguicularis Poir.
- light
- Full sun
- water
- Medium
- tall
- 38 cm
- wide
- 46 cm
Iridaceae
Formerly Siphonostylis unguicularis
When it flowers
JFMAMJJASOND
Not known yet in the tropics: too few flowering observations to read a season from.
PetsNo pet-safety information yet
PeopleNC State Extension lists it as mildly poisonous (flowers, fruits, leaves, roots, sap, seeds, stems) (25 Oct 2026)
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- Rhizomatous geophyteKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- SubtropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- NW. Africa, E. Medit.Kew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Full sun (6 h or more)Read from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension full, part; RHS full
- Height
- 30 cm to 46 cmRead from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension 1–1.5 ft; RHS 0.1–0.5 m
- Spread
- 36 cm to 56 cmRead from NC State Extension and RHS, checked: the middle of what its sources sayHalfway between its 2 sources, which differ. Sources differ: NC State Extension 2–2 ft; RHS 0.1–0.5 m
- Water
- Average: moist, well drainedRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Flowers
- White, yellowRead from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension purple, white, yellow; RHS violet, white, yellow
- Coldest it survives
- -16.4 °C (USDA zone 7a)Read from NC State Extension and RHS, checked: the middle of what its sources sayHalfway between its 2 sources, which differ. Sources differ: NC State Extension -17.8 °C; RHS -15 °C
Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (2)
- Welsh
- gellesgen Algeria
- Chinese
- 爪形鸢尾
Where this comes from
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-25, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- RHS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-25, Public domain
- 3D model: Iris unguicularis (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.