The Iris domestica or the leopard lily is a stunning little flower -- with its brilliant shades of orange, red leopard spots, set against the blades of dark green of its leaves. It’s spotted petals grab your attention, especially, when many flowers bloom in a bunch. But, it’s a pity that these flowers last only for 24 hours and then wither away. Hence, they are not used as cut flowers in a vase.
These are easy to grow plants and hardly any care, besides a good bed of compost, the Leopard lily grow in well-drained, fertile soil in full sun. According to a gardening web site, they resent heavy clay soils, where the roots have a tendency to rot, which are like rhizome pieces of ginger. These plants grows 60 to 90 cm tall and are often found blanketing hillsides, especially in the Nilgiris.
The flowers can range from red, orange to yellow, or mixed, and bloom through the year. The leaves too are stunning and grow in a symmetrical fan, like those of a gladiolus. The 10-inch long, sword-shaped leaves give rise to two-foot stems, with the blooms. The flowers are typically orange, spotted with red, although yellow-flowered varieties are in cultivation. “They are delicate and dainty flowers,” says Christine Pereira admiring them. And Karin Chawla add, “Leopard spots are high fashion on the ramps and haute couture has taken its cue from nature, and these delicate blooms!”
Avid gardener, Sneha Naidu, opines, “They bloom in the morning and live only for a day. When they dry up they slowly form pods with ebony black seeds in them that resemble blackberries. The root of the plant is used for herbal medicine in certain cultures.”
Looking into its history, the plant is of Chinese origin, and it is locally used in Chinese villages for its medicinal properties. Apparently in China, the dried rhizome has long been used to treat throat trouble, asthma, swollen liver and spleen and malaria. The herb is a principal ingredient in a lung support formula to reduce inflammation and is also believed to fight viral infection.
If a friend asks you for a plant, all that needs to be done is to dig out a piece of the rhizome and share it with them. When landscaping the garden, a large grouping of these plants looks attractive, when backed by a stone wall or planted along with ornamental grass.
