Widow iris (Iris tuberosa)

Arta, Epirus

Arta, Epirus

The name of this beautiful iris has cause a big debate among botanologists as some of it place it in the Iris genus as Iris tuberosa and some as Hermodactylus tuberosus, but it is always in the Iridaceae family. It appears to have a vast number of common names like Snake's head, widow iris, black iris or velvet flower-de-luce and in greek μαυρόκυκνος ή αυτί του λαγού. According to the latest molecular studies it is classified as I. tuberosa.

Arta, Epirus

It is endemic to the Mediterranean region and usually starts flowering in winter but this year, because of the bad weather, it started blooming in spring. It is a fairly short plant with a height of about 30cm and it blends really well with it surroundings. The reason for the constant cahnge of genuses is the lack of the characteristic flag like tepals that the Iris genus has.