Re: Mystery iris at Isle Royale NP

 

It's wild Iris versicolor for sure, which is native to Isle Royale and northward. Here's the Michigan distribution (Isle Royale is in a little inset in the corner of the map): http://michiganflora.net/species.aspx?id=1478 It's not native below about USDA Zone 5a in Michigan. Iris virginica v. shrevei overlaps in range in the northern Lower Peninsula http://michiganflora.net/species.aspx?id=1479. The bloom time is about right for versicolor at that latitude - it doesn't bloom until July in the mainland Upper Peninsula.

Edgar Anderson famously demonstrated that Iris versicolor and Iris virginica are distinct species, and that versicolor is the result of an ancient hybridization between virginica and setosa, using statistical analysis of flower measurements of the three species.

Sean Z
Zone 6a
SE Michigan

On Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 7:49 PM, 'Jean M. RICHTER' r*@eecs.berkeley.edu [iris-species] <i*@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
 

My brother, who works for the National Park Service, spotted this iris in bloom last week along a trail at Isle Royale National Park in (very) upper Michigan. I was hoping some of you experts might have some thoughts as to what it is. 

Isle Royale did have some human settlements in the past, so it's possible it was brought in rather than being native to the area.

The foliage looks too wide for a siberian - is missouriensis or setosa a possibility? I highly doubt virginica would survive up there.

Thanks for your help,

Jean


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