Additional notes (click to expand)

Medicinal

“They purge flegm, especially from the joynts, therefore are good for gouts, and other disease of the joynts. Their vices [side-effects] are corrected with long pepper, ginger, cinnamon or mastich: I would not have unskilful people to busy with purges.”
Culpeper, Nicholas. (1653). The London Dispensatory. London

This is a beautiful dwarf iris, but seems to have completely disappeared from modern herbals and all I can offer you is that John Gerard (1545-1612), the herbalist, described the colour as ‘goose-turd green’.
Oakeley, Dr. H. F. . (2013). The Gardens of the Pharmacopoeia Londinensis. link

Nomenclature

Syn. = Hermodactylus tuberosa
The International Plant Names Index (2008) at www.ipni.org

Iris tuberosa L.

Family: IRIDACEAE
Genus: Iris
Species: tuberosa L.
Common names: Snake's head Iris
Pharmacopoeia Londinensis name: Hermodactylus
Distribution summary: France to Aegean islands
Habit: Perennial
Garden status: Currently grown
Garden location: Pharmacopoeia Londinensis 1618 'Roots' (HSE 2B), Top of lawn by 'Sundial' (S)
Reason for growing: Medicinal


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