Our Native Irises: Dwarf Woodland Irises
Iris tenuis: Clackamas Iris
The Clackamas iris occurs in the Clackamas valley in Oregon.
In this beautiful image of the Clackamas iris, note the prominent yellow signal and the attendant the pale purple veins. Photo by William Plotner.
Range map of Iris lacustris. Courtesy of the USDA PLANTS Database.
Iris tenuis is a very light pale blue spring wildflower occasionally white. The signal is composed of a series of pale yellow ridges on the spreading sepals. The petals are ascending. The inflorescence has two to three branches with each branch possessing a single flower. The 15 mm wide, stiff dark green leaves arise from shallowly rooted creeping rhizomes, 30cm between offshoots forming loose colonies.
Iris tenuis is commonly found growing in leafy organic soils, in sunny openings in Douglas fir forest.
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The Clackamas iris has a very limited distribution. The only Forest Service land that it occurs on is the Mt. Hood National Forest. Photo by Carol Wilson, The Genus Iris.