Iris macrosiphon - Fairfax, near the type locality

By Eric Hunt,April 23 2011

Naturalist-photographer Eric Hunt found these bowl-tube iris on Azalea Hill, above Fairfax in Marin county, California. Azalea Hill overlooks Corte Madera, where the plants used to first describe Iris macrosiphon were originally collected. The form and color shown here are typical of that same bowl-tube iris population. In his book Marin Flora, John Thomas Howell noted - "The small beautiful flowers are fragrant, but they bloom so close to the earth that one must stoop low to perceive the scent."

Click on the photo below to connect to Eric's "Carson Ridge and Azalea Hill" gallery, where you can see the set of nine Iris macrosiphon photos from Azalea Hill, plus more than 40 of the multicolored "Marin iris" (listed as Douglas iris) from nearby Carson Ridge.