Iris purdyi, Tin Barn Road, Sonoma County, California
Range: Northern California coastal ranges between Sonoma and Trinity counties, to about 3,000 feet elevation
Original material: Ukiah, Mendocino County, California 1897
Key identifying features:
1. Large, flattish flowers with spreading petals and sepals
2. Stigma truncate or even bilobed (not triangular)
3. Short, inflated, overlapping bract-like leaves enclose stem, only the tips free
4. Long, funnel-shaped floral tube, around 1½ inch
5. Spathes very broad, enclose ovary and most of floral tube
Flower color: White, cream or soft yellow, often with prominent reddish-brown or purple veins on petals.
Habitat: Thick, loose duff on the moderately shaded forest floor, surrounded by douglas fir, tan oak, madrone, bay and other mixed evergreen trees.
Comment: The large, flattish ("starfish-like") flower gives Iris purdyi a unique appearance among the Pacific Coast Iris. It is the only PCI with a truncate stigma. Mature plants grow as individuals or in loose, sparse clumps.
In much of its range, where it has crossed with other wild iris, the hybrids often don't have the look of pure I. purdyi. Unmixed stands tend to be mostly white or cream color with pale or pronounded reddish brown veins. Along the coast near Iris douglasiana, or inland near Iris macrosiphon, the veins are often purple and the petals may even have a purple or lavender wash.