68. Iris clarkei J.D. Hooker
An iris of the Sibericae group, in which the drooping, outer petals (which are known as the ‘falls’) are smooth and beardless. It is native to the East Himalaya, occurring in Sikkim and Bhutan, where it grows in alpine pastures and forest clearings, and where the fried leaves are used as fodder for horses and yak. The specific name commemorates Cyril Barron Clarke (1832–1906), a schools’ inspector in Bengal and authority on the Indian flora, who in retirement at Kew was one of the major contributors to the great seven-volume Flora of British India edited by Sir Joseph Hooker.
Hand coloured lithograph by W.H. Fitch, after a drawing by Matilda Smith, from Curtis’s Botanical Magazine
RBGE Living Collections Accession Factsheet
Accession Number:19371008
Scientific Name:Iris clarkei Baker ex Hook.f.
Family:Iridaceae
Genus:Iris
Epithet:clarkei
Collector:Ludlow, Francis & Sherriff, George
Year:1936
Origin:Outer China incl. Tibet:Xizang (Tibet) Aut. Reg., S:Bimbi La
Elevation:3,810m
Plant:19371008F
Location:/Living Collections/Inverleith/R05/ZZK040
Plant:19371008D
Location:/Living Collections/Unplaced
Plant:19371008E
Location:/Living Collections/Dawyck/V08
Plant:19371008A
Location:/Living Collections/Inverleith/R05/L020
Plant:19371008G
Location:/Living Collections/Dawyck/V02
Plant:19371008C
Location:/Living Collections/Unplaced
Plant:19371008B
Location:/Living Collections/Inverleith/H05/ZV010
