Japanese name: シャガ（射干） Scientific name:Iris japonica
[Overview]
An evergreen perennial that grows in colonies in woods near human settlements.
It is especially common in cedar plantations and bamboo groves.
It has branching rhizomes underground.
The leaves are alternate in two rows, sword-shaped, 30–60 cm long and 2.5–3 cm wide, and glossy.
A raceme is borne on a flower stalk 30–70 cm tall.
The flowers are 5–6 cm across and pale purple; there are 6 tepals, which open flat, and the 3 outer tepals have fine cuts, bluish purple spots and yellow-orange markings, with a crest-like projection at the base.
The inner tepals are shallowly 2-lobed at the tip.
The flowers wither in a day and bloom one after another, but they do not set fruit.
[History]
It is also thought to have come from China long ago and become naturalized.
[Cultivation]
Propagate by division.
It prefers bright shade.
Cultivation is easy.
