Iris and related plants account for many different plant genera and species as well as thousands of cultivars. Generally speaking those in the genus, Iris can be divided into three major divisions:

  1. Bearded Iris
  2. Beardless Iris
  3. Bulbous Iris

Each of these can be further divided into subgroups, each of which may contain several individual species and various flower types. Below is a chart of the Iridaceae Family of plants highlighting the Genus Iris and other genera with plants that in someway resemble iris in growth habit and flowers.

  • Genus Iris

    • subgenus Limniris (Beardless Irises)

      • section Limniris

        • subsection Apogon

        • subsection Ensatae (I. biglumis)

        • subsection Tenuifoliae

          • series Ventricosae

        • subsection Syriacae (I. grant-duffii)

      • section Unguiculares

          • series Unguiculares

      • section Ioniris

          • series Ruthenicae

    • subgenus Xyridion

      • section Xyridion (Spuria Irises)

          • series Spuriae

          • series Gramineae

      • section Spathula (I. foetidissima, Gladwin)

    • subgenus Nepalensis (I. nepalensis)

    • subgenus Crossiris (Crested or Evansia Irises)

      • section Crossiris

          • series Japonicae

          • series Tectores

      • section Lophiris

          • series Cristatae

      • section Monospatha

    • subgenus Iris (Bearded Irises)

      • section Iris (eupogons, the true Bearded Irises)

          • series Pumilae (Smaller Bearded Irises)

          • series Elatae (Larger Bearded Irises)

      • section Hexapogon (Aril Irises)

        • subsection Regelia

        • subsection Pseudoregelia

        • subsection Oncocyclus

  • Genus Xiphium (includes English and Dutch Irises)

  • Genus Iridodictyum (Reticulata Irises)

    • section Iridodictyum (most of the Reticulata Irises)

    • section Monolepis (I. kolpakowskianum, I. winkleri)

  • Genus Gynandriris (G. sisyrinchium. G. maricoides)

  • Genus Juno (Juno Irises)

    • section Juno

    • section Physocaulon

        • series Drephanophyllae

        • series Rosenbachianae

    • section Acanthospora

  • Genus Hermodactylus (H. tuberosus, Snake's Head Iris)

  • Genus Pardanthopsis (P. dichotoma, Vesper Iris)

  • Genus Belamcanda (Blackberry Lilies)

  • Hybrid genus X Pardancanda (Pardanthopsis X Belamcanda; P. norrisii, Candy Lilies)

I. aphylla Stool Iris 15 in 5 purple, beard white May Eastern Europe Bearded
I. bakerana Baker Iris 12 in         Beardless
I. bracteata Braeted Iris 4-12 in 7 yellow with brown-purple veins Feb Oregon Beardless
I. brevicaulls (foliasa) Lamance Iris     blue-purple, with a zigzag stem   Ky. to Kansas Beardless
I. bucharica Bokhara Iris   5 yellow and white April Turkestan Bulbous Juno type
I. chamneiris Crimean Iris   5 blue, red-purple, yellow or white - 2 flowers on a spathe April to May Northern Italy Bearded
I. chrysographes Goldvein Iris 8 in 7 violet to velvet-purple marked with golden veins June West China Beardless
I. danfordiae Danford Iris   5 bright yellow dotted green flowers with a deep yellow or orange crest   Turkey Crested
I. delavayi Delavays Iris 3-4 ft 7 Stems hollow, flowers violet-purple with white markings. June Southwest China Beardless
I. dichotoma Vesper Iris     several flowers in racemes on forked stems - white with brown-purple spots and purplish stripes August
-Sept		   Beardless
I. douglasiana Douglas Iris 20 in 8 lilac-purple, lavender or buff to creamy white - evergreen   Calif to Oregon Beardless
I. flavissima Goldheard Iris 6 in 5 yellow to orange, veined brown-purple   Hungary to Mongolia Bearded
I. foetidissima Gladwin Iris     small and inconspicuous, purplish gray - evergreen June Southern Europe Beardless
I. fulva Copper Iris 1-3 ft 7 coppery orange to salmon pink May-June South United States Beardless
I. giganticaerulea     7 Violet-blue June Southern La. Beardless
I. gracilipes Slender Iris   6 pinkish lilac, with wavy orange crest May Japan Crested
I. hartwegii Foothill Iris   7 yellow with lavender veins   Northern Ca. Beardless
I. hexagona Dixie Iris 2-3 ft 7 blue flowers May-June South United States Beardless
I. histrioides Syrian Iris 12 in 4 blue with streaked or spotted markings   Asia Minor

 bulbous
I. hoogiana Redbeard Iris 30 in   pale to darker gray-blue, rarely white May Turkestan Regelia
I. innominata     8 golden buff, veined light brown and there are cream-colored varieties June Oregon Beardless
I. japonica Fringed Iris   8 lilac spotted with yellow and white, with yellow crests April China and Japan Crested
I. korolkowii Redvein Iris   5 2-3 per stalk, creamy white tinged brown, with numerous dark brown veins May Turkestan Regelia
I. laevigata Rabbit Ear Iris 24 in 4 blue-purple, but white forms June-July Japan Beardless
I. macrosiphon Tube Iris   8 lilac, but sometimes white or cream colored 1-3 flowers per stalk   California and Oregon Beardless
I. mellita Tread Iris   5 related to I. pumila flowers are fragrant, pale smoky brown with red-brown veins. The beard is white, tipped with blue. April-May Southern Europe Bearded
I. missouriensis Rocky Mountain Iris 6-24 in 3 pale blue and variegated   S.Dak., Ariz. and British Columbia Beardless
I. ochroleuca = I. orientalis              
I. orientalis Oriental Iris 24 in 3 blue sometimes white related to I.sibirica May-June Eastern Asia Beardless
I. persica Persian Iris 6 in 6 fragrance of violets and are colored a greenish blue with a bright yellow keel   Asia Minor

 Bulbous - Juno
I. prismatica Cubeseed Iris 36 in 3 2-3 in a terminal cluster, deep but bright Lilac-blue Similar to I.sibirica but the stem is solid. May Nova Scotia to Ga. restricted to swampy areas Beardless
I. pseudacorus Yellow Flag Iris           Beardless
I. pseudo-pumila Tineo Iris 4-6 in 5 purple, yellow or white   Southern Italy Bearded
I. pumila Dwarf Bearded Iris 4-5 in 4 usually solitary, variable in color April Europe and Asia Minor

 Bearded
I. purdyi Purdy Iris 12 in 8 range of colors from white or cream to lavender and orchid, almost pink May and June Northern California to Oregon difficult to grow outside its native habitat Beardless
I. regalis   12 feet 8  lilac colored, musk­scented   Southern La. Beardless
I. rosenbaehiana Spinster Iris 9 in 8 deep, velvety purple with an orange crest, but this varies considerably, for yellow and white   Turkestan Bulbous - Juno
I. setosa Arctic Iris   2 purple

one of the hardiest of all the Iris.

 May-June Eastern Siberia, Japan and North America Beardless
I. spuria Spurious Iris, Seashore Iris 12-24 in 2-3 sessile flowers are bright lilac streaked with purple and some white June-July Europe and Asia Beardless.
I. spurin halophylla   12-18 in 5 Small flowers, falls are white with purple veins and sonic dull yellow

I. spuria and not very different

   Caucasus Mountains Beardless
I. susiana Mourning iris 12-18 in   bright violet-purple May or in June Asia Minor

 Onocyclus
I. tenax OregonIris   5 soft shades of cream, lavender, orchid and white     Beardless
I. lenuissima   14 in 9 cream to white with purple to brown markings

similar to I. puvdyi, but not so vigorous.

   California Beardless
I. tingitana Tangiers Iris 18-24 in 7 lilac-purple early spring Morocco Xiphium-bulbous
I. versicolor Blue Flag 2-3 feet 3 blue flowers splashed with yellow, the flowers usually solitary   Eastern Canada to Pa. common wild Iris found in wet soils Beardless
I. virginica Virginia Iris 2-40 in 7 similar to I.versicolor, with flowers blue to violet May-June Southeastern United States Beardless
I. wilsonii Wilson Iris E.H. Wilson 24 in   similar to those of I. sibirica except that they are yellow and have divergent, not erect, standards June Western China Beardless
I. xiphioides English Iris 12-24 in 7 dark blue with a yellow patch on the falls, but varying in color from white to lavender and blue June-July Pyrenees Xiphium-bulbous
I. xiphium Spanish Iris 12-24 in 7 white, yellow or blue with a yellow or orange patch on the blade, They are about 4 inches wide.   Southern France and Portugal Xiphium-bulbous
I. reticulata       fragrant, purple and whitish   Asia Minor

 Beardless

bulbous

 
 
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