Duck Creek Conservation Area is located nine miles north of Puxico on Highway 51 in Stoddard, Bollinger and Wayne counties.The Missouri Department of Conservation purchased the land for the area in 19
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Scientific Name
Iris fulva
Family
Iridaceae (irises)
Description
Copper iris grows from a rhizome, with bladelike leaves and coppery or reddish flowers.
The flowers have 3 sepals and 3 petals, and all 6 are orange, copper colored, or reddish brown. The 3 petal-like sepals spread widely or arch downward and have 1–3 prominent veins. The sepals often have a lighter, yellow area near the base but lack a “beard” of hairs there. The 3 petals are somewhat narrower than the sepals and are erect or spreading and declining with the sepals. Blooms April through June.
The leaves are bladelike, arching or nodding, and emerge from the rhizome and occur along the flower stems.
Similar species: Eleven Iris species have been recorded growing out of cultivation in our state; seven are nonnative and four are native. Of the four that are native to Missouri, this is the only one with orangish or coppery flowers. To learn more about the irises you might encounter in Missouri's habitats, see their group page.
Size
Height: 2–3 feet; spread: 1–2 feet.
Where To Find
Scattered in the Mississippi Lowlands of southwestern Missouri; also used statewide in garden plantings.
Habitat and Conservation
Swamps and bottomland forests, and along the edges of sloughs, ditches, canals, and ponds, often in shallow water.
This flower has been losing its wild habitat in our state, as the swamps of southeastern Missouri have been drained and herbicides applied to ditches, so it is becoming less common in the wild. It is a species that should be used more often in home gardens.
Status
Native Missouri wildflower. Declining in the wild due to draining of swamps, dredging operations, and herbicides applied to ditches.
Human Connections
Copper iris is a pretty native iris that can flourish in the home garden, especially near a pond or stream, where the soil is rich and moist. It prefers full or part sun and attracts butterflies and hummingbirds. If you are wanting to cultivate this plant, get your starts from an ethical native wildflower nursery; never collect them from native habitats.
This species is declining in the wild due to human-caused habitat alteration and loss.
Of the more than 800 species covered in volume 1 of George Yatskievych's Steyermark's Flora of Missouri (1999) — comprising all the ferns, gymnosperms, and monocots — the copper iris was the species selected for the big photo on the dust jacket.
Ecosystem Connections
Plants that grow in bogs and other low, wet areas do a tremendous service in filtering water of impurities and silt before it runs into creeks and rivers or enters the groundwater system.
This species also provides food for hummingbirds and insects, including moths. Herbivorous insects are important foods for birds, especially during nesting season, when chicks require extra protein for their growing bodies.
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Media Gallery
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Copper iris (Iris fulva) is gaining popularity as a garden plant even though its numbers are declining in the wild. Like many other native plants, copper iris is hardy, low-maintenance, and has few pest or disease problems.
Credit
MDC Staff
Right to Use
Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
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Caption
Copper iris, Iris fulva, is one of four native Missouri iris species.
Credit
Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation.
Right to Use
Photo by Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation. , courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
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Caption
Copper Iris in St. Charles County
Credit
Submitted by Barbara Kryvko
Right to Use
Use of this image is restricted to MDC only
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Where to See Species
About Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants in Missouri
A very simple way of thinking about the green world is to divide the vascular plants into two groups: woody and nonwoody (or herbaceous). But this is an artificial division; many plant families include some species that are woody and some that are not. The diversity of nonwoody vascular plants is staggering! Think of all the ferns, grasses, sedges, lilies, peas, sunflowers, nightshades, milkweeds, mustards, mints, and mallows — weeds and wildflowers — and many more!