| Part of Plant | Trait Name | Note |
|---|
| Flower Color (S+P+SA) | Background color on complexly colored iris flowers | For species, all parts are typically one color, petals are fairly narrow with little or no ruffling, small signals and small areas of veins |
| | Amoena | Bearded iris term for flowers with white standards and colored falls |
| | Reverse Amoena | Flowers with dark standards and white falls, e.g. Valley Banner form, which has dark veins on white falls, purple-lavender standards, very striking |
| | Bitone | S and F with different values of the same colors. Usually S are darker |
| | Bicolor | S and F of different colors. |
| | Blend | Gentle shading of two different colors in petals |
| | Tricolor | S, F and SA each of different colors |
| | | |
| Flower Form | Spider | Narrow petals |
| | Normal or species-type | Moderately wide petals found in most species |
| | Full | Full overlapping petals |
| | Dinnerplate | Flat, all petals in one plane; petals broad |
| | Flat | All petals are on one plane, petals very broad and blooms large |
| | Fountain | All petals droop downward |
| | Triangular | Falls downward, standards upright and close as in a triangle |
| | Recurved | Petals, particlarly the falls, fountain out and down, and recurve at edges |
| | Semi-flaring | Falls that flare at 45 degrees |
| | | |
| Standards | Upright | Held up |
| | 45 degrees | Held out at 45 degrees |
| | Domed | Bearded iris term for standards that arch together at top of flower |
| | | |
| Ruffling (S+P+SA) | None | Smooth edges, as in many species |
| | Fluting | Gentle uneven ruffling, as in some species |
| | Pie Crust | Small, regular ruffling, as with a fluted pie crust |
| | Bubble | Intense undulations of petal edges |
| | Stipple | Precise, even ruffling |
| | Uneven | Irregular ruffling, as with some wild iris flowers |
| | Wavy | Gentle ruffling, as compared to bubble ruffles |
| | Corrugated | Large, precise undulations of petal edges |
| | | |
| Borders | Colors | May be light on dark petal, or dark on light petal |
| | Edging | A border of a different color |
| | Banding | Wide border of different color, more than 4 mm wide |
| | Rimmed | A very wide border of a different color, more than 6 mm wide |
| | Wire Edge | Narrow border: less than 1/8 inch or 3 mm wide |
| | Fine Pencil Edge | 2 mm wide |
| | Hairline Edge | 1 mm wide |
| | Haloed | Sometimes applied to borders, indicating a different color on the petal edge. JW suggests this is best applied to Signals |
| | | |
| Veining | Natural | Pattern found naturally in
I. purdyi, I. innominata, where multiple veins radiate out from base of Fall to or nearly to tip, occupying half or more of petal |
| | Lines | Thicker than natural veins, ca 2 mm wide |
| | Heavy Lines | Much thicker than natural veins, ca 3-4 mm wide |
| | Patterned | Regular veining over much of petal |
| | Radiating | Veins that radiate out from base to tip in very regular pattern covering most of petal |
| | Contrast veining on standards | If standards have veins in a contrasting color, mention |
| | Luminata | Light or white veins on dark falls, and see bearded iris definition |
| | Webbing | Dense veining covers most of petal, leaving border of base petal color on edge |
| | Plicata | Stitched, stippled or banded color in contrast to the base color. Might also show peppering. |
| | Stitching | Dashed lines radiating out along edge (in bearded iris), or to edge in complexly patterned veins in PCIs |
| | | |
| Signal | Natural | Yellow or white signal on petal of another color is natural to several species |
| | Eye | Small intense color spot with short lines (less than 4 mm long) around edge |
| | Spot | Color spot |
| | Blaze | Large irregular color spot |
| | Thumbprint | Large oval color spot |
| | Central Area | Spot confined to central portion of petal |
| | Bleeding Spot | Tapers out into veins radating out from sport |
| | Watercolor | Diffuse edges |
| | Diffuse | Wash of color rather than dark solid area |
| | Divided | Dissected by areas of base petal color, or by slashes, or veins of another color |
| | Size | Can be small to large, occupying less than 1/4 of petal, half, or more |
| | Dime | 10 mm signal |
| | Lined | Signal formed of lines instead of color patch |
| | Crescent | Two arcs on petal, one to each side of mainline |
| | Peppered | Signal formed of dots instead of solid patch, may also describe widepread dots on standards |
| | Lash around signal | Lines more than 4 mm long around signal |
| | Lash without signal | Lines more than 4 mm long around are where signal would be, but color of this area is the same as the petal, lashes of contrasting color |
| | | |
| Signal Modifications | None | Natural condition is generally a central spot of unbroken color with an irregular edge |
| | Flash | Jagged color slash through signal |
| | Slash | Straight slash through middle of signal on center axis |
| | Centerline | Long slash through signal, may cover more than 1/3 to 1/2 of petal towards tip from signal |
| | Streak | Large uneven central color line extending out from signal to lower portion of petal |
| | | |
| Signal Halo | | Horseshoe or ring of color outside signal on petal, does not occupy much of petal area |
| | Line | Small regular line |
| | Band | Wide regular line |
| | Stippled | Dotted line |
| | Freckled | Irregularly dotted line |
| | Whiskers | Halo of fine regular veins instead of solid line, > 4 mm to 8 mm long |
| | Eyelashes | Halo of fine short regular veins instead of solid line, 4 mm or less |
| | Rays | Halo of longer regular veins, 8-12 mm long, but not occupying most of petal, unlike plicata form of veining |
| | | |
| Extra Color | | On Petals (Falls or Standards), usually on Falls |
| | Overlaid | Distinct overlayer of another color |
| | Stained | Dark overlayer |
| | Hazed | Light overlayer, foggy, rather like a foggy or smoky haze |
| | Flushed | Infused overlayer that is not the same tone everywhere, darker in some areas than in others |
| | Washed | Uniform wash of second color |
| | Blushed | Warm, pinkish wash of color |
| | Infused | Very faint overlayer |
| | Dust | Very small flecks of other color on main body of petal |
| | Dotted or Peppered | Regular small dots of other color on main body of petal |
| | Freckled | Uneven dots of other color on main body of petal |
| | | |
| Coverage of Extra Color | Partial | As in less than half of petal is washed with extra color |
| | Half | As in half washed with extra color |
| | Mostly | As in more than half of petal is wshed with extra color |
| | Complete | Describe actual flower color and components, major color and extra color |
| | | |
| Style Arm Color | Normal | One base color for all flower parts is normal |
| | Lighter | Same color, lighter tone |
| | Darker | Same color, darker tone |
| | Throat Color | Used when SA throat is a different color |
| | Tip Color | Used when SA tip is a different color |
| | Veining | If present, mention and use Falls terms |
| | | |
| Perianth Tube Color | | When different from main flower, list |
| | | |
| Ovary Color | | When not green (usual condition) |
