Family: Iridaceae Stinking Iris / Roast-beef Plant Iris foetidissima Flowering time: May - July. Evergreen perennial Grows in woodlands and hedgerows on calcareous soils. Common in the southern half of England, scattered distribution further north and in Ireland. Unbearded, violet flowers with purple veins and yellowish-brown centres are followed by fleshy fruit capsules with red seeds. Evergreen clumps of dark-green, sword-shaped leaves with an unpleasant, foetid smell when crushed.

   


Stinking Iris, Iris foetidissima
Studland, Dorset. August 2007