Iris Pontica

Scientific description

Phylum: Angiospermatophyta (Magnoliophyta)
Class: Monocotyledonatae (Liliatae)
Subclass: Liliidae
Order: Liliales
Family: Iridaceae
Origin: native to the areas bordering the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

Description:
It is a perennial herbaceous plant. The root is a short, thick, lemony and branched rhizome from which the cylindrical flowering stem, several cm long and branched, arises, bearing several sword-shaped leaves. It has 2–5 basal leaves, narrow, linear-lanceolate, 10–45 cm long, larger than the stem. The stem ends with a single inflorescence. Each flower has at its base a bract that becomes parchment-like at maturity, with two or three bluish bracts. The flower consists of six petaloid perigonal leaflets: three outer ones (“falls”) are sub-orbicular or obovate, purple or reddish-purple, darker veined, and lower midvein half hairy (yellowish/greenish yellow); three inner leaflets (“standards”) are oblanceolate, unguiculate, light purple. Leaflets slightly joined at base forming a short purplish-green tube. Androecium: three long stamens in front of outer leaflets, long anthers, violaceous filaments. Gynoecium: tricarpellar, syncarpous, inferior; style apex with three petaloid stigmas, two yellowish lobes covering the stamens. Blooms spring–summer. Fruit: ellipsoidal capsule with pyriform reddish-brown seeds.

Propagation: by division of the rhizomes.

Ecology:
Grows spontaneously in clearings and meadows, prefers calcareous, sandy-clay soils.

Uses:
Planted in gardens and parks as a decorative plant. Leaves and flowers are rich in vitamin C. Expectorant and diuretic; can be used internally as infusion or decoction to prevent pneumonia, headache, tuberculosis, relieve constipation and menstrual pain. Can be applied in compresses for dental neuralgia, burns, and skin mycoses.

Remark: Continental element, critically endangered, very rare plant.

Creative writing inspired by Iris Pontica 

The Path of Iris

Long ago, when gods still walked among mortals, the skies wept with sorrow for a world that had forgotten beauty. The flowers drooped, the rivers ran gray, and even the stars dimmed their light.

Among the gods, Iris—messenger of Olympus and keeper of the rainbow—watched from above with a heavy heart. She, who once danced across the sky, painting it with vivid colors, had not been summoned for a long time. Without messages to carry or prayers to answer, her wings lost their luster. But one day, she heard the whisper of a mortal’s voice—soft, trembling, and honest.

A girl knelt in a barren meadow, hands cupped over a single, withering bloom. “Please,” she whispered, “bring back the colors. Let the world remember beauty.” Touched, Iris descended, her feet barely brushing the earth. From her robe, she plucked a strand of rainbow light and pressed it into the soil beside the flower. Where it touched, colors erupted—violet, indigo, gold—spreading like fire through the field. From each spark bloomed a flower shaped like a teardrop caught in flight: the iris. The girl watched, eyes wide, as Iris smiled. “Whenever the world forgets color,” the goddess said, “these flowers will remind it.” Then she vanished on a trail of light, arching once more into the heavens.

To this day, when the wind whispers through a field of irises, it’s said to be Iris herself, returning to carry a message—of hope, of beauty, or of a soul ready for its journey home.

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Authentic Specimen