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Iridaceae FAMILY

Gynandriris sisyrinchium

Gynandriris sisyrinchium

Edibility
1/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

Possibly poisonous[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial
Growth—

Easily grown in a stiff limey soil in full sun[2]. Tolerates some shade[3]. Plants need plenty of moisture whilst in growth in winter and spring, but need a dry soil when they die down in the summer[4]. This species is not very hardy in Britain, tolerating temperatures down to about -5°c[5], and in general does not do well in this country[6]. It requires a summer baking to ripen the roots and ensure good flowering in the following year[5]. It should be planted about 10 - 15cm deep[3]. It is probably best grown in a bulb frame[PFAF]. The flowers usually open in the afternoon and are faded by the morning[7].

Propagation

Seed - best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe[6]. Stored seed should be sown as soon as possible in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Gynandriris+sisyrinchium>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. — Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. · Wolfe · 1984 · ISBN 0723408394 ↩︎Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far.
  2. [2]Hardy Bulbs.; Including Half-hardy Bulbs and Tuberous and Fiberous-rooted Plants — Grey. C. H. · Williams & Norgate. · 1938 · ISBN - ↩︎Rather dated now, but an immense work on bulbs for temperate zones and how to grow them. Three large volumes.
  3. [3]The World of Iridaceae — Innes. C. ↩︎Deals with many of the plants in the Iris family giving brief details of habitat and notes on cultivation. Well illustrated.
  4. [4]The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers — Brickell. C. · Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. · 1990 · ISBN 0-86318-386-7 ↩︎Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.
  5. [5]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  6. [6]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  7. [7]Bulbs — Phillips. R. and Rix. M. · Pan Books · 1989 · ISBN 0-330-30253-1 ↩︎Superbly illustrated, it gives brief details on cultivation and native habitat.
  8. [8]Flora Europaea — ? · Cambridge University Press · 1964 · ISBN - ↩︎An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for Europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.
  9. [9]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  10. [10]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  11. [11]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
  12. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎