User:DavidAnstiss/Iris thompsonii

Iris × thompsonii (or Thompson's iris), is a hybrid species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae. Its parents were thought to be Iris douglasiana and Iris innominata, both of which are native to California and Oregon

native range is Oregon to California.

Description
Iris thompsonii R. C. Foster ﻿(Robert C. Foster, 1937). Series Californicae. Flower color is typically purple, but varies among other colors, including white, cream, gray, blue, red and lavender. The perianth tube is longer than in I. douglasiana or I. innominata. Plants are small, evergreen, with narrow leaves. There are one to two flowers per stem. Long thought to be a natural hybrid between Iris douglasiana and Iris innominata, this purple flowered species was recognized as a separate species initally by R.C. Foster, then subsumed into Iris innominata as a purple-flowered form by L. Lenz. In 1990, Wilson et al completed chromatography studies on all three species and concluded it is a valid species in on its own. I. thompsonii is found south of Powers, Oregon in Coos County, southward into northern Del Norte County, California. It grows on open, lightly wooded sites, with sunnier aspect than preferred by I. innominata, and is well inland from the coastal areas preferred by I. douglasiana. Soil preference appears to be transitional between serpentines and non-serpentine soils in this region.

Found in the Klamath Mountains.

native range is Oregon to California.

British botanist R.C.Foster First published in Rhodora 38: 199 (1936) Accepted by Innes, C. (1985). The World of Iridaceae: 1-407. Holly Gare International Ltd., Ashington.

Its parents were thought to be Iris douglasiana and Iris innominata,but a study carried out in 1990 using a chemotaxonomic analysis of flavonoid pigments using thin layer chromatography, did not agree. It also found that the 3 irises had different habitats. A Chloroplast DNA study in 1996, disagreed and stated that the populations of Iris thompsonii do not form a phylogenetic species and are best viewed as products of hybridization between I. douglasiana and I. innominata.

1983 A population study of three iris (iridaceae) species native to the Siskiyou Mountains in southwestern Oregon and adjacent California Carol Anne Wilson Portland State University

It is found in sparse sections of grass.

Often just named as Iris thompsonii R.C.Foster.

It is an accepted name by the Royal Horticultural Society and was listed in its RHS Plant Finder in 2012.