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Iris foetidissima 'Aurea' (Yellow Gladwin Iris) - A rhizomatous perennial that forms clumps of attractive evergreen foliage to 12 to 18 inches tall by 2 feet wide. It has fairly attractive light yellow flowers that rise just above the foliage in mid spring, but it is for the foliage and showy fruit that this plant is particularly noted for. In the fall the clusters of 3-inch-long sausage-shaped fruit split open to reveal bright orange-red bead-like seeds, a sight which has given this plant the additional common name of Coral Iris.
Plant in full sun to light or moderate shade and give little to abundant irrigation (in other words, it is not fussy!). Gladwin Iris is very hardy (to under 15 degrees F.), although the foliage may turn black in a hard frost. It is prized by flower arrangers for the scarlet seeds displayed in autumn when the seed capsules split. It will grow almost anywhere or in any soil.
Iris foetidissima is a rhizomatous, beardless species native to southern and western Europe and North Arica. The genus Iris gets its name from the Greek goddess Iris, who was goddess of the rainbow. In Greek mythology, Hera, who was Queen of Olympia, was impressed by Iris' purity and honored her with a flower that bloomed with all the colors in her robe. This species was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 using the specific epithet combining the Latin word 'foetid' meaning "stinking" or "bad smelling" with the superlative suffix ' issimus' meaning "the most so" or "to the greatest degree" which implies this must have been a plant Linnaeus thought really stunk, and other common names such as Stinking Iris, Roast-beef Plant and Stinking Gladwin all seem to back this up. But while the crushed foliage has a rich beef-like aroma, it is pretty mild and only present when the leaf is really crushed. Other common names using "Gladwin" in its various spellings, including Gladdon and Gladwyn, come from the word Gladen which meant sword-grass and was derived from the Latin word 'gladius' (think gladiator) in reference to the long linear leaves of the plant.
This yellow flowering form was grown from plants from our garden that were grown from seed collected in New Zealand in the mid 1990s. It is noted for having flowers that are a pale yellow instead of the typical lavender and having slightly more robust foliage and larger fruit. We have seen Iris foetidissima listed as a pond margin plant but have not tried this ourselves. Seed for this plant was collected in New Zealand's north island where it is a common escaped ornamental. We discontinued growing this plant in 2002
The information displayed on this page about Iris foetidissima 'Aurea' is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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