Nomenclature

Species name:

Iris sicula   Tod.

Author(s):

Agostino Todaro
   Italy, 1818-1892

Common name:

Sicilian Iris

Maltese name:

Fjurdulis Sqalli

Plant Family:

Iridaceae   (Iris Family)

Name Derivation:

Iris = Rainbow coloured, referring to the wide variety of flower colours found among the many species; Iris was the Greek goddess of the rainbow in Greek mythology. (Greek);
> sicula = From or related to Sicily.(Latin).

Synonyms:

Iris pallida, Iris florentina var. pallida

Plant Description

Life Cycle:

Perennial

Habitat:

Rocky places mostly at valley sides

Sources in Malta:

Locations remain undisclosed for protecting the plant.

Plant Height:

70-120cm

Flowering Time:

Apr-Jun

This is one of the most beautiful wild Irises in Malta, and unfortunately a rare species restricted to very few locations in Malta and Gozo. The plant grows from underground, thick, horizontally running rhizomes that survive the arid and hot Summer in Malta.

The rhizomes produce broad, sword-shaped leaves growing in a V-shaped arrangement, where the younger leaf envelopes out from the one beneath. They can grow between 20-50cm long and 2-4cm wide. The leaves of other ornamental Irises (such as I. germanica) are usually more narrow and do not have a bluish-green colour(glacous) as Iris sicula. The margin is entire and the lamina is glabrous with several parallel veins, sometimes bulging.

In Early spring, the bulb forms tall scapes, exceeding the leaves that can reach 120cm in height. It forms between 4 to 7 flowers which are well spaced from each other (by about 10-15cm). Each large and highly conspicuous flower has a rather pale indigo-violet colour and blossom in Mid April till June. The flower is subtended by a silvery-white membranous (papery) spathe, which turns green towards the base.

Each flower has six non-identical tepals. The 3 outer tepals are known as falls and are found drooping down, while the other 3 inner tepals - known as standards - are erect and upright. The standards are pleated and slightly decorated at the basal margins. On the contrary, the falls are highly decorated by a zebra-like brown, pale yellow and white pattern at its inner part (the claw) which gradually fades out towards the remaining upper half of the tepal. Furthermore, each fall has an interesting central band of yellow bristles which is referred to as the beard. The beard is about 5cm long and 7mm wide. The yellow bristles becomes white towards the outer end of the tepal.

There is a set of 3 styles and as in many irises, they have a unique showy structure. In this species, each style has the shape of a petal (hence called as a petaloid style) and is located just over each fall tepal. It consists of 2 joined lips of different lengths and colour. The shorter lip is lilac-white and generally smooth. The longer lip is concolorous with the rest of the flower and has 2 triangular lobes with a lacerated margin. The lobes start more or less at the rim of the shorter lip. The stigma is located somewhere at the base and between the lobes of the upper lip. The 3 stamens are found sandwiched between the petaloid style and the fall tepal. The stamens have a pair of pale yellow pod-like anthers that are about 15mm long.

After fertilization, the flower tepals shrivel and fall, while the ovary develops into a cylindrical/oval fruit capsule. This produces many dark-brown seeds, about 3mm across which are liberated when the capsule splits open.

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