Iris

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Lore & Background

The specific epithet haynei refers to William Amherst Hayne (1847–1873), from Trinity College, Cambridge, a botanist who went with Tristram to the ruins of Ataruz and Machaerus (Mukawir) in 1873. It was originally found in Palestine, on Mount Gilboa, by Hayne in April 1872, and then first published and described by John Gilbert Baker in The Gardeners' Chronicle, Vol.6 on page 710 in 1876, based on dried samples. I. haynei was thought to be closely related to Iris sari and was once also thought to be a form of Iris atrofusca, but after genetic testing in 2001, it was found to be a separate but linked species. In 2002, a genetic analysis study was carried out on I. haynei and Iris atrofusca in Israel, to find the DNA markers and phenotypic variation. It has a chromosome count: 2n=20, counted in 1977 by Avishai & Zohary, then published in 1980.

In Their Own Story

In the 1950s the iris suffered from widespread picking by plant dealers and visitors, and locals from a nearby kibbutz collected the iris to make wreathes to decorate their rooms. It soon became very rare and endangered. In 1959, all Oncocyclus irises in Israel were listed as 'Very Rare'. Then in 1963, the Nature Reserves Act was established in Israel, and the 1964 'Species Protection Law' and the 'Endangered Species Law' includes various irises. The creation of nature reserves and wild plant protection law saved the plant from extinction. Some reserves were set up specifically due to the presence of 'Oncocyclus' irises, including on Mount Gilboa. A public education campaign including school teaching programmes, pamphlets and posters stopped the public picking the wild plants. On 24 February 2016, it was assessed by the IUCN as Vulnerable. It has a restricted habitat of less than 100 km2. It is now part of Jerusalem Botanical Gardens preservation project, which includes seed collection.

Reader's Guide

Iris haynei is a geophyte with a stout rhizome and small brown stolons, forming clumps of plants. It has between 5 and 8 smooth, linear or lanceolate, greyish-green leaves up to 25–30 cm long and 1–1.5 cm wide, growing in spring and fading after summer. The slender stem grows up to 40–60 cm tall, carrying terminal fragrant flowers 10–12 cm in diameter, blooming between March and April. Flowers come in shades of deep purple, violet, purple, brownish purple, or dusky lilac, veined or spotted over a pale or pale pink-violet background. The oblong or ovate, recurved falls are 7–8 cm long and 4–6 cm wide, more densely veined and spotted than the standards. The incurved standards are 9–10 cm long and 6–7 cm wide. In the centre of the falls is a dark purple, black-brown, to blackish signal patch, and a beard varying from dark purple, white, or dark-tipped yellow. A semi-albino form with a white-yellowish or golden yellow flower and a dark red signal patch has been recorded. It has a 2.5 cm long perianth-tube, and after flowering produces a loculicidal seed capsule; seeds have a method of delaying germination for up to several years. It grows in Mediterranean woodlands, shrublands, and on rocky hillsides, on soils containing limestone and dolomite, or at the edges of fields in terra rossa, at an altitude of 150–550 m above sea level. It is endemic to the Samaria region of northeastern Israel and Palestine and northwestern Jordan, within the Lower Galilee including on Mount Tabor, in the Bisan Valley of the Emek HaMaayanot Regional Council, and found on Mount Gilboa. Some small populations can be found in the Judaean Desert and near the kibbutz of Ein Gev on the Sea of Galilee. It can also cross adjacent borders such as the West Bank barrier and is found in the northern West Bank. I. haynei, like many other Oncocyclus iris species, can be pollinated by night-sheltering solitary male bees (eucerine bees), attracted to the heat reward of the dark flowers. On Mount Gilboa, it grows alongside giant fennel and Euphorbia hierosolymitana, near mastik and carob, and at the edges of planted Aleppo pine forests.

Did You Know?

• The specific epithet haynei refers to William Amherst Hayne (1847–1873), a botanist from Trinity College, Cambridge, who found the plant on Mount Gilboa in April 1872.
• It has a chromosome count of 2n=20, counted in 1977 by Avishai & Zohary.
• A semi-albino form with a white-yellowish or golden yellow flower and a dark red signal patch has been recorded.
• It can be pollinated by night-sheltering solitary male bees (eucerine bees), attracted to the heat reward of the dark flowers.
• The creation of the wall between Israel and Palestine (since 2002) has affected its habitat; several hundred flower groups translocated to Mount Barkan mostly died between 2–10 years due to dense pine tree plantations.