Re: mystery iris

My name is Jill Eldridge and I live in Lansing, MI.  Last year, I found
these little Iris' growing in my yard.  And I do mean little Iris! They
are maybe 3/4" in diameter when they bloom.  They are on low-growing,
ground cover type plants with almost round, serrated leaves.  Last year,
the flowers were purple(falls & standards) with yellow beards.  This
year, I have those AND white flowers with purple veins and yellow
beards.  The root system is amazing...it webs just under the surface of
the yard for 2-3 feet at a time.  Do you have any idea what I have
growing out there?  They seem to be multiplying at a wild rate!!!

I have kept this question for some time while I consider the responses
that were sent in by Mike and Rick.  I think that both replies were
incorrect and that this plant is neither lacustris nor cristata.  In
fact, I would suggest that it is not an iris at all!

Being very small would not exclude it from being lacustris but even that
species would be pushing it if it had a flower of 3/4".  Monocots almost
never have round leaves nor serrated ones.  This is a dicot.  Iris do
not have runners that would go 2-3ft at a time.  2-3 inches would be
more like it.  My cristata expands by about 3" around the edge in a
year.

I would suggest that it is more likely to be a labiate of some sort -
does it have a square stem?  Any compotent botanist at Michigan State
(which I am assuming is the local university) would be able to identify
it for Jill. 

Ian

Ottawa, where the weather is warming up - still only danfordiae and
reticulata flowering - and I am planning a special bed to plant the 40
clumps of species iris that Bruce Richardson gave me last weekend!
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