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Iridaceae
Herbertia

not marked as a favorite taxon Herbertia caerulea (Herbert) Herbert. Common name: Prairie-nymph, Herbertia, Pleatleaf Iris. Phenology: Mar-May. Habitat: Prairies, marshes, meadows. Distribution: S. and c. Mississippi west to Texas; central South America. Occurrences in Winston County, Alabama (Keener et al. 2024), Escambia County, Florida, and Oconee County, South Carolina (J. Marlow, pers.comm., 2025) likely represent introductions.

Glossary (beta!)

Origin/Endemic status: Native

Taxonomy Comments: We treat this taxon as distinct at species rank from the South American Herbertia lahue; modern study is needed (the last treatment based on study was published in 1968). POWO (2024) treats each of the three entities regarded as subspecies ('amoena', 'lahue', and 'caerulea') in the 1960s and 1970s in various genera (Alophia, Trifurcia, and Herbertia) at species rank. Entity 'amoena' and entity 'lahue' are strictly South American; 'caerulea' has sometimes been regarded as strictly North American, and sometimes as a bimodal disjunct between sc. North America and temperate s. South America.

Synonymy ⓘ: = POWO, S; = Herbertia lahue (Molina) Goldblatt ssp. caerulea (Herb.) Goldblatt — K1, K4, NcTx; = Trifurcia lahue (Molina) Goldblatt ssp. caerulea (Herb.) Goldblatt — Goldblatt (1968); >< Alophia drummondii (Graham) R.C.Foster — Tx, Foster (1945), misapplied; > Herbertia drummondiana Herbert — S13; < Herbertia lahue (Molina) Goldblatt — ETx1, FNA26, NS, WH3; > Herbertia watsonii J.G. Baker — S13. Basionym: Trifurcia caerulea Herbert 1840

Links to other floras: < Herbertia lahue - FNA26

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Wetland Indicator Status:

  • Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FACU (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
  • Great Plains: FACU (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)

Heliophily ⓘ: 9

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image #1 of Herbertia caerulea© Sonnia Hill | Original Image ⭷
image #2 of Herbertia caerulea© Sonnia Hill | Original Image ⭷
image #3 of Herbertia caerulea© Sonnia Hill | Original Image ⭷
image #4 of Herbertia caerulea© Sonnia Hill | Original Image ⭷

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Horticultural Information

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