Our Native Irises: Pacific Coast Irises
Iris douglasiana: Douglas Iris
The Douglas iris occurs in a narrow strip of approximately 750 miles from southern Oregon to northern California.
Range map of Iris douglasiana in California. Courtesy of the USDA PLANTS Database.
Range map of Iris douglasiana in Oregon. Courtesy of the USDA PLANTS Database.
Iris douglasiana flowers are a variety of hues from purplish-red, light lavender, blue, creamy white, and all the potential shades in between. The sepals are widely spreading, upright, and then arching downward. The signal is a yellow to white with blue or purple veins. The petals are spreading and upright, shorter and slightly narrower than the sepals. The inflorescence has eight to nine flowers appearing in two- to three-flowered units. The flowering stalk is generally shorter than the attending leaves. The yellowish-green to dark green leaves are stiff and upright, basal with a deep reddish base, from shallowly rooted, freely branching rhizomes that can form large colonies.
In this series of Iris douglasiana photos the diversity of color forms is remarkable. Note the venation and presence of signal patches to guide pollinators. Photo © Kenneth Walker.
Iris douglasiana. Photo © Kenneth Walker.
Iris douglasiana. Photo © Ferrell. Courtesy Society for Pacific Coast Native Iris.
A small colony of Iris douglasiana in a sunlit opening is a treat to come upon when one is out hiking on the national forests. Photo by John McRae, U.S. Forest Service.
Iris douglasiana is commonly found growing in open woods, rocky outcrops, sunny slopes and fields.