Seeking Israels oncocyclus irises

Francisco, one of the nursery/propagation scholars reports on a recent tour to seek out onocyclus irises …

There are ten species of the oncocyclus irises in Israel, all protected, the dark-purple Iris atropurpurea is the first to flower along the central Mediterranean coast, having scattered populations mostly surrounded by towns and cities.   Oncocyclus is a Greek word, with ‘onco’ meaning mass or bulk, and ‘cyclus’ meaning circle. This is believed to be in reference to the single dark patch on the falls of these beautiful flowers; it’s easier to see the spot on paler flowers (see photo below).

Oncocyclus irises; photo Francisco Lopez Torres

In the last week of January we visited a nature reserve in Nes Ziona, south of Tel Aviv.  There were manyIris atropurpureain flower, the genus name was given by Linnaeus in honour of Iris, the Greek goddess of the rainbow.  The species name comes from the Latin ‘atrox‘ meaning very or fiercely and ‘purpurea‘ meaningpurple. This clump has very dark, almost black flowers, but there were some variation on the colours.

Iris atropurpurea: photo Francisco Lopez Torres

The flowers do not have nectar and pollination is carried out by solitary male bees that use the flowers as a shelter from the colder nights. The seeds are dispersed by ants that use the aril as food but leave the rest of the seed untouched.