Iris subg. Limniris

{{Short description|Subgenus of flowering plants}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|name = Beardless iris

|image = Iris sibirica 060603.jpg

|image_caption = Iris sibirica

|taxon = Iris subg. Limniris

|authority = (Tausch) Spach

|subdivision_ranks = Series

|subdivision = See text.

|}}

Subgenus Limniris is one subgenus of beardless irises, which don't have hairs on their drooping sepals, also called their falls.

'Limniris' is derived from the Latin for marsh or living-in-lakes iris,{{cite web| title=Subgenus Limniris (Limniris) - Marsh, or living in lakes Iris | url=http://flower-iris.ru/en/knigi-pro-iridariy/zaglyanut-v-knigu/61/ | publisher=flower-iris.ru | access-date=5 November 2014}} or pond iris. This refers to the fact that most species can be grown in moist habitats for part of the year.{{cite web| title=Subgenus Limniris | date=12 January 2012 | url=http://wiki.irises.org/bin/view/Main/InfoClassificationSubgenusLimniris | publisher=wiki.irises.org (American Iris Society) | access-date=5 November 2014}}

It was originally described by Tausch in Deut. Bot. Herb.-Buch (Deutsche Botaniker) in 1841.{{cite web| first1=Manuel B. | last1=Crespo | first2=Ángeles | last2=Alonso | title=(2073) Proposal to conserve the name Pseudiris Chukr & A. Gil against Pseudo-iris Medik. (Iridaceae), or to conserve Limniris against Pseudo-iris | date= June 2012| url=http://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/33715/1/2012_Crespo_Alonso_Taxon.pdf | publisher=rua.ua.es | access-date=5 November 2014}} Édouard Spach made changes 1846 in Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot. (Annales des Sciences Naturelles; Botanique).{{cite web| title=Iris subg. Limniris (Tausch) Spach | url=https://www.gbif.org/species/100016332 | publisher=gbif.org | access-date=5 November 2014}}

It was divided into sections, 'Limniris', which is further divided down to about 16 series, and 'Lophiris' (also known as 'Evansias' or crested iris).{{cite book |last=Stebbings |first=Geoff |year=1997|title=The Gardener's Guide to Growing Irises |url=https://archive.org/details/gardenersguideto00steb|url-access=registration |location=Newton Abbot |publisher=David and Charles |pages=[https://archive.org/details/gardenersguideto00steb/page/16 16–18] |isbn=978-0715305393}} They are both polyphyletic.{{cite journal| first=Carol A.| last= Wilson| title=Phylogeny of Iris based on chloroplast matK gene and trnK intron sequence data | date=November 2004 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2004.06.013 | volume=33 | issue= 2| journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | pages=402–412 | pmid=15336674}}

It has 45 species, which are widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere.

It is a group that has been recognized with few changes since Dykes's 1913 monograph on the genus Iris. Lawrence (1953), Rodionenko (1987) and then Mathew (1989) all tried to modify the group.Rina Kamenetsky, Hiroshi Okubo (Editors){{Google books| Ornamental Geophytes: From Basic Science to Sustainable Production|5B-ucdbgA3wC| page=24}}

Various authors have tried to classify the list in various ways. It is still undergoing study and variations.