A N F Keys
1 Plants 90−170 cm tall, aquatic of permanently wet soil with thick, creeping rhizomes; blades 10−33 mm wide; flowers 70−100 mm across, bright yellow; style branches petal-like, covering stamens .. Iris pseudacorus [pics]
1' Plants 30−60 cm tall, growing in fully terrestrial habitat with compact rhizomes; blades 2−7.5 mm wide (folded); flowers dark violet, blue-violet, or pale blue (white); style slender within filament column .. Sisyrinchium bellum [pics]
NB. Several other Iridaceae have been found in range, where they were intentionally cultivated, especially where plants persisted after the residence was destroyed by fire, but which have not escaped from the locality, e.g., Chasmanthe floribunda (Salisb.) R. E. Brown. Showy irids have also been planted at remote memorials, presumably of beloved pets.
The text of the above keys used with permission from
A Naturalist's Flora of the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills, California
© Copyright
Barry A. Prigge and Arthur C. Gibson
2013