{{Short description|Species of flowering plant in the iris family}} {{Speciesbox | image = The Botanical Magazine, Plate 1 (Volume 1, 1787) corrected.png | image_caption = ''The Botanical Magazine'', Plate 1<br>(Volume 1, 1787)<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=3276887&pageno=3 | title=Iris Persica. Persian Iris | author=Curtis, William | journal=The Botanical Magazine | year=1787 | volume=1 | pages=3}}</ref> | genus = Iris | display_parents = 2 | parent = Iris sect. Scorpiris | species = persica | authority = L. | synonyms = *''Coresantha persica'' <small>Alef</small> *''Juno persica'' <small>Tratt</small> *''Iris praecox'' <small>Salisb.</small> *''Costia persica'' <small>(L.) Willk.</small> *''Iris bolleana'' <small>Siehe</small> *''Iris issica'' <small>Siehe</small> *''Iris persica var. bolleana'' <small>(Siehe) Dykes </small> *''Iris persica var. isaacsonii''<small> Foster</small> *''Iris persica var. issica'' <small>(Siehe) Dykes</small> *''Iris persica var. purpurea'' <small>(Siehe) Dykes</small> *''Iris persica f. sieheana'' <small>(Lynch) B.Mathew & Wendelbo</small> *''Iris persica var. sieheana'' <small>(Lynch) Dykes </small> *''Iris praecox'' <small>Salisb.</small> *''Iris purpurea'' <small>Siehe</small> *''Iris sieheana'' <small>Lynch</small> *''Iris squamata'' <small>Gaterau</small> *''Thelysia persica'' <small>(L.) Parl.</small> *''Xiphion persicum''<small> (L.) Mill.</small> | synonyms_ref = <ref>{{cite web| title=Iris persica L. | date=23 March 2012 | url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-322227?ref=tpl1 | publisher=theplantlist.org | accessdate=16 October 2014}}</ref> }}
'''''Iris persica''''', the '''Persian iris''', is a native plant of Iran. It is particularly known for its beauty and fragrance.
One of the first Juno irises to be described, this species has been in cultivation for centuries and was listed by Philip Miller in his book of 1732. It was originally grown as an indoor plant.<ref name=ClaireAustin>{{cite book | first=Claire | last=Austin | title=Irises A Garden Encyclopedia | url=https://archive.org/details/irisesgardenerse00aust| url-access=limited | publisher=Timber Press | isbn=978-0881927306 | year=2005 | page=[https://archive.org/details/irisesgardenerse00aust/page/n301 301]}}</ref>
==Description== This bulbous perennial is short, about 4 inches (10 cm) high. The leaves are 0.2 to 0.6 inches (5 to 15 mm) wide with a pale edge and a grey underside. The flowers are 2 inches (5 cm) across, varying in colour from brownish to greenish or greyish.<ref name=Alpine>{{cite web | url=http://encyclopaedia.alpinegardensociety.net/plants/Iris/persica | title=Iris persica | publisher=Alpine garden society | year=2011 | accessdate=9 April 2013}}</ref>
==Distribution== It is an alpine plant growing in the hills of Iraq,<ref>{{cite web |last=Stevens |first=Michelle L. |last2= Alwash |first2= Suzie |date=January 2003 |title=Draft Report Biological Characteristics Mesopotamian Marshlands Of Southern Iraq |url=http://www.uodiyala.edu.iq/uploads/PDF%20ELIBRARY%20UODIYALA/EL34/Draft%20Report%20Biological%20Characteristics%20Mesopotamian%20Marshlands%20of%20Southern%20Iraq.pdf |publisher=The Iraq Foundation |accessdate=5 November 2016}}</ref> Turkey and Syria, at altitudes between 300 and 5400 feet (100 to 1650 metres).<ref name=Alpine/>
==Cultivation== ''Iris persica'' needs warmth and shelter to blossom but can be grown in the open air. It flowers in February and March and may flower for up to six weeks in a row.
The beauty of this plant attracted the attention of gardening writers including Vita Sackville-West,<ref>Sackville-West, Vita (2004). [https://books.google.com/books?id=L505i5yj0T0C&pg=PA103 ''Even More for your Garden'']. Frances Lincoln. p. 103</ref> Gertrude Jekyll,<ref name=Jekyll>Jekyll, Gertrude (1900). [https://books.google.com/books?id=H-C63lldui8C&pg=PA71 ''Home and Garden'']. Cambridge University Press. p. 71</ref> and William Robinson in his 1893 book ''The English Flower Garden'',<ref>Robinson, William (1893). [https://books.google.com/books?id=FvFaAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA475 ''The English Flower Garden, Notes and Thoughts, Practical and Critical, of a Worker in Both''.] John Murray.</ref> among others. Jekyll wrote "How endlessly beautiful are the various kinds of Iris, of which so many bloom in June... in a snug sunny place at the foot of a south wall ''Iris persica'', whose delicate petals of palest greenish-blue are boldly painted with stronger colours..."<ref name=Jekyll/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://wiki.irises.org/bin/view/Spec/SpecPersica?id=1&filename=persica_sm.jpg#igp1 American Iris Society: Cultivars]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q15296233}}
persica Category:Alpine flora Category:Flora of Iran Category:Flora of Turkey Category:Flora of Iraq Category:Flora of Lebanon Category:Plants described in 1753 Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus