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Montana Field Guides

Western Blue Iris - Iris missouriensis

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Native Species

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: S4
C-value: 3


Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:


 

External Links

 
General Description
Stems 10–50 cm. Leaves basal, 10–40 cm × 3–8 mm wide. Inflorescence of 1 to 3 flowers; spathes inflated, united at the base, sometimes membranous-margined, 4–8 cm long; pedicels 2–5 cm long. Flowers: sepals 4–6 cm long, whitish with a yellow midstripe and blue veins and margins; petals blue, 3–4 cm long; lobes of style branch white, 3–6 mm long. Capsule ellipsoid, 2–4 cm long (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Range Comments
BC, AB south to CA, AZ, NM and NE (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 295

(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version) Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density

Recency

 

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)



Habitat
Moist to wet meadows thickets, woodland margins; plains, valleys, montane (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Ecology
POLLINATORS
The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap: Bombus appositus, Bombus auricomus, Bombus bifarius, Bombus centralis, Bombus fervidus, Bombus flavifrons, Bombus huntii, Bombus melanopygus, Bombus nevadensis, Bombus rufocinctus, Bombus occidentalis, Bombus pensylvanicus, Bombus griseocollis, Bombus insularis, and Bombus suckleyi (Macior 1974, Heinrich 1976, Thorp et al. 1983, Colla and Dumesh 2010, Miller-Struttmann and Galen 2014).


References
  • Literature Cited AboveLegend:   View Online Publication
    • Colla, S.R. and S. Dumesh. 2010. The bumble bees of southern Ontario: notes on natural history and distribution. Journal of the Entomological Society of Ontario 141:39-68.
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
    • Macior, L.M. 1974. Pollination ecology of the Front Range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Melanderia 15: 1-59.
    • Miller-Struttmann, N.E. and C. Galen. 2014. High-altitude multi-taskers: bumble bee food plant use broadens along an altitudinal productivity gradient. Oecologia 176:1033-1045.
    • Thorp, R.W., D.S. Horning, and L.L. Dunning. 1983. Bumble bees and cuckoo bumble bees of California (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Bulletin of the California Insect Survey 23:1-79.
  • Additional ReferencesLegend:   View Online Publication
    Do you know of a citation we're missing?
    • Aradottir, A.L. 1984. Ammonia volatilization from native grasslands and forests of SW Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 48 p.
    • Culver, D.R. 1994. Floristic analysis of the Centennial Region, Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Montana State University, Bozeman. 199 pp.
    • Eggers, M.J.S. 2005. Riparian vegetation of the Montana Yellowstone and cattle grazing impacts thereon. M.Sc. Thesis. Montana State University, Bozeman, MT. 125 p.
    • Grove, A.J. 1998. Effects of Douglas fir establishment in southwestern Montana mountain big sagebrush communities. M. Sc.Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 150 p.
    • Jones, W. W. 1901. Preliminary flora of Gallatin County. M.S. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State College. 78 pp.
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
    • Matlock-Cooley, S.J. 1993. Interaction between Deermice, Antelope Bitterbrush, and cattle in southwest Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University 84 p.
    • McColley, S.D. 2007. Restoring aspen riparian stands with beaver on the northern Yellowstone winter range. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 67 p.
    • Quire, R.L. 2013. The sagebrush steppe of Montana and southeastern Idaho shows evidence of high native plant diversity, stability, and resistance to the detrimental effects of nonnative plant species. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 124 p.
    • Rosgaard, A.I., Jr. 1981. Ecology of the mule deer associated with the Brackett Creek winter range in the Bridger Mountains, Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 76 p.
    • Seipel, T.F. 2006. Plant species diversity in the sagebrush steppe of Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 87 p.
    • Stoecker, R.E. 1967. A population study of five species of small rodents in the Bridger Mountains of Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, Montana: Montana State University. 32 p.
    • Whitehead, B.K. 2020. The response of parafluvial soils to beaver mimicry restoration in a montane stream. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 114 p.
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Citation for data on this website:
Western Blue Iris — Iris missouriensis.  Montana Field Guide.  .  Retrieved on , from