Question: I found this iris growing in a low spot at the edge of a field near a pond in Lincoln, …
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Question
I found this iris growing in a low spot at the edge of a field near a pond in Lincoln, Massachusetts. It is much smaller than my cultivated Iris versicolor, only 20 cm tall. The size is consistent with the alternative in the sibirica-veriscolor couplet of the key: flower 7 cm wide overall, broadest petals about 2 cm wide, leaves about 6 mm wide.
Answer
Dear jfc, it is much more likely you have photographed a stunted Limniris versicolor (blue beardless-iris). The petals are too narrow to be Limniris sibirica (the petals are not the large, outer segments of the perianth, those are the sepals, which are much larger than the petals in this genus). Best wishes.
