Iris Tectorum – a few Roof Irises | Beautiful Flower Pictures Blog

Every now and then when I’m out photographing in the spring I’ll find some roof irises (iris tectorum) to photograph. Despite being native to China, Korea, and Burma, they are often referred to as Japanese Roof Irises where they naturalized. In Japan, these irises were often found growing in the thatched roofs of houses – thus the name roof iris. Some stories claim they started being grown on roofs after a famine when as much land as possible was dedicated to growing food. One of the most common uses of the roof irises in Japan was making a white powder from the roots that the Geishas used as makeup.

Here are a few of the various roof irises I’ve photographed over the years.