Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
10CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including KY
Genus host records with ranges including KY · Iris
- Amphipoea americanaAmerican Ear Moth, American Borer
- Endothenia hebesanaVerbena Bud Moth
- Macronoctua onustaIris Border Moth, Iris Root Borer
- Moodna ostrinellaDarker Moodna
- Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
- Papaipema cataphractaBurdock Border, Potato-Stalk Borer
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Tetracis cachexiataWhite Slant-Line
- Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformisEvergreen Bagworm Moth
- Xanthopastis regnatrixConvict Caterpillar, Spanish Quaker, Spanish Moth
15BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Iris
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Iris
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Iridaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 5–9
- Flower color
- Red
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth habit
- Spreads by rhizomes
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- Spring
- Fruit ends
- Summer
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Mid spring” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Flower color · “Red” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Spring” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Summer” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Spreads by rhizomes” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Moderate” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Hardiness · “Zones 5–9” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
- Height · “3–5 feet” · Tennessee Smart Yards · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Light · “Full to part sun” · Tennessee Smart Yards · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- primary_flower_color · “red” · USDA PLANTS
- Soil · “wet to medium” · Tennessee Smart Yards · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Spread · “1–2 feet” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
Also known as
Copper Iris
Conservation status
| Kentucky rank | S1 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| KY status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
In your garden
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Sources
- tnky_atlas
- usda
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications