Iris juncea

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{Italic title}}

{{Speciesbox

|name = Rush iris

|image = Iris juncea.jpg

|image_caption = Illustration of the Iris juncea by Walter Hood Fitch (Curtis’s Botanical Magazine)

|genus = Iris

|display_parents = 2

|parent = Iris sect. Xiphium

|species = juncea

|authority = Poir.

|synonyms = Diaphane stylosa Salisb.

Iris mauritanica Ker Gawl.

Xiphion junceum (Poir.) Parl.

}}

Iris juncea (commonly called the rush iris) is a smooth-bulbed bulbous iris species. The name is derived from 'juncea' from the Greek word meaning 'rush-like'.{{cite book |last=Stearn |first=William |year=1972 |title=A Gardenerer's Dictionary of Plant Names |location=London |publisher=Cassell |page=184 |isbn=0304937215}}

It was first described by Jean Louis Marie Poiret in 1871.{{Cite web|title=Iris juncea Poir.|publisher=Global Biodiversity Information Facility|url=https://www.gbif.org/species/5299059|access-date=April 24, 2014}} It was then illustrated in Curtis's Botanical Magazine in 1898.Richard Lynch {{Google books|grvYTul5CSUC|The Book of the Iris|page=160}}

Its flowers are light yellow{{Cite journal|page=47|journal=Kew Bulletin|issue=25–48|year=1890|title=New Garden Plants}} and fragrant. Normally 2 per stem in summer. It flowers between June and July.

It grows to a height of between 1 and 2 feet.{{Cite book|page=150|title=Hardy Flowers|author=William Robinson|publisher=Applewood Books|year=2009|isbn=978-1429014434}}

The 3mm wide leaves appear in the autumn and then fade before flowering.James Cullen, Sabina G. Knees, H. Suzanne Cubey (Editors) {{Google books|CkxWrDqtWLQC|The European Garden Flora Flowering Plants: A Manual for the Identification|page=259}}

The bulb is reddish-brown in colour.

It can be found in (Algeria and Tunisia) in North Africa,{{cite web|first1=Jorge| last1=Martınez| first2=Pablo |last2=Vargas |first3=Modesto |last3=Luceno |first4=Angeles|last4= Cuadrado| title=Evolution of Iris subgenus Xiphium based on chromosome numbers | date=13 August 2010| url= http://www.rjb.csic.es/jardinbotanico/ficheros/documentos/pdf/pubinv/PVG/Mart%C3%ADnez&al-2010-Iris-PSE.pdf| publisher=www.rjb.csic.es| access-date=1 August 2014}} Southern Spain and Sicily.

Other varieties known include;

• iris juncea var. merimieri (Lynch) Sulphur yellow flowers
• iris juncea var. numidica (Anon) lemon-yellow flowers (from Africa)
• iris juncea var. pallida (Lynch) large soft yellow flowers