Iris blossoms are highly specialized and different from our Standard Blossom in several interesting ways. The image shows a typical iris flower with some of its unusual modifications.
The showy parts of iris flowers are not clearly distinguishable between calyx and corolla, as in our Standard Blossom. The lowest parts, where you'd expect the calyx to be, are just as colorful and fleshy as the upper parts, where the corolla should be. When you want to refer to both calyx and corolla, or the showy parts where the calyx and corolla should be, you can call the whole structure a perianth. One specialized "perianth segment" of the iris blossom, situated where we'd expect a calyx's sepals to be, is the petal-like falls. The falls serves as a "landing pad" for pollinators. Notice how the falls in the flower above has bright lines leading into the blossom's mouth. These serve as nectar guides, directing pollinators toward the nectar.
The 3 standards correspond to a normal flower's petals. They rise above the blossom and provide more color and pollinator-attracting power to the flower.
One last interesting feature of iris blossoms is that in many species and varieties the upper surface of the falls is equipped with a beard consisting of fuzz such as that shown in the much-magnified image at the left. The beard gives pollinators something to hold on to as they enter the iris blossom in search of nectar.
学名:Iris tectorum
科属:鸢尾科鸢尾属
特征:多年生草本花卉。高30~50厘米,根状茎短而粗,分枝丛生,淡黄色。叶剑形质薄,淡绿色,长30~60厘米。花茎与叶等长,单一或二分枝,每枝有花1~4 朵,花蓝紫色,外轮裂片倒卵形,外折,具深色网纹,中部有鸡冠状突起及白色髯毛,内轮裂片较小,倒卵形呈拱形直立,花柱花瓣状,覆盖着雄蕊。
法国的国花是鸢尾科的香根鸢尾(fleur de lis),它体大花美,婀娜多姿,与百合花(lily)极为相似。鸢尾与百合分属两个截然不同的科类,虽然一眼看去,似乎两者都有六枚“花瓣”,殊不知鸢尾花只有三枚花瓣,其余外围的那三瓣乃是保护花蕾的萼片,只是由于这三枚瓣状萼片长得酷似花瓣,以致常常以假乱真,令人难于辨认。此外,鸢尾的“花瓣”一半向上翘起,一半向下翻卷,而百合花的花瓣却一律向上。另有一些鸢尾的花心深处还长有三枚由雌芯变成的长舌形瓣儿。由于欧洲人常把鸢尾花称作“百合花”,故不少人以为法国的国花是百合花。