Iris virginica

Purple leaf base, uppermost leaf shorter than uppermost flower.

Collect the capsules when they begin to turn brown (usually in July) and plant seeds immediately for best germination. Seeds stored dry in cold storage, or allowed to ripen to maturity on the plant, enter dormancy and often require 2 years to germinate. Steffen (1994) recommends cold/moist stratification to break dormancy. Plant outdoors in a moist bed in shade or semi-shade, then transplant when seedlings produce fans. Seeds should be planted approximately 1/2" deep. Stored seeds should be scarified by chipping the seed coat at hilum end (point where the seed was attached to the seed pod). Divisions of the rhizomes can be made in late summer or fall. Plant the peices of rhizome under 1/2" of soil.

Grows in marshes, wet savannahs, pinelands, shallow water in ditches and in soggy meadows and prairies throughout Louisiana and east Texas. Occurs from Florida to Texas and north to east Virginia.

Marshes, swamps, stream and pond margins, wet forests.