Description
(syn. jordana, atrofusca, biggeri)
An early species with large flowers, up to 15 cm across. The falls are dark maroon to violet-purple, intensely veined all over in darker and lighter shades, around a virtually black “oncodot”. There is a yellow beard above a pale ground.
The standards are broad, rounded and are heavily veined. In colour they appear to be much redder or rosier than the falls. In addition the veining is more obvious, due to the paler background and they have been likened to dusky purple satin, which is not so far from the truth
Iris haynei is a very narrow Israeli-Jordanian endemic. The type form is limited to a narrow strip of suitable habitat around Mount Gilboa. If you accept that it is part of the atrofusca group then subsp jordana has a slightly larger north-south range along the west bank, but the botanical status of these narrow endemic species is still being argued about.
Despite contrary advice, this seems no more difficult or tender than any of the other Oncocyclus species.
Propagated, horticultural stock originally traceable to Um Quais in Jordan.
