Iris gilgitensis Baker ex Hook. f. in Hook. f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 6: 274. 1892.
Roots slender, fleshy. Rhizome slender, knobbly. Leaves up to 40.0 ( 2 cm. Peduncle (stem) 5-15 (-30) cm. Bracts 4.5-7 cm long. 2-flowered; pedicel very short. Flowers blue-purple, with blotches; tube 1.2-3.0 cm long; falls 5-6.5 cm long, c. 2.0 cm broad; haft cuneate, blade oblong, beard white, tips coloured. Standard 5.0(2.0 cm, haft canaliculate, blade oblong. Filaments blue, as long as creamy anthers. Ovary c. 1.2-1.3 cm long, trigonal, style sharply keeled, crest triangular; stigma with serrated edge. Capsule 5-6 cm long, broadly elliptic, terminating into a conspicuous beak with dried flower parts; stipe (1.5-) 2.0-2.5 cm; dehiscence longitudinal. Seeds pyriform, red, aril yellowish.
Fl. Per.: June-July.
Type: Curtis, Bot. Mag. t. 7276. 1893.
Foster (l.c.) stated that 'I owe this plant to the kindness of my friend Mr. Max Leichtlin, who obtained it from Moravian missionaries at Lahul". Baker (in Curtis, Bot. Mag. t. 7276. 1893) states that "The present plant was obtained from Lahul by Herr Max Leichtlin, from the Moravian missionaires. It was sent to Prof. Foster in 1884 and our drawing was made from plant which he flowered in May 1892, the developed leaves being added in July". In the absence of any specimen that could be accepted as the Type, it is proposed that the illustration, though executed at a later date, but prepared from the original material may be accepted as the Type.
Distribution: Pakistan (Chitral, Swat, Gilgit, Hazara), Kashmir; India (Himachal Pradesh).
Judging by the number of herbarium specimens, it seems to be the most common Iris species.
