Iris Nelsonii - Abbeville Red Iris

Iris Nelsonii, also know as the "Abbeville Red Iris" or "Super Fulvas.", was discovered in the 1930s in the swamps in (you guessed it) Abbeville, Louisiana by W. B. MacMillan. Iris Nelsonii was only officially described as a species in 1966 and named after Ira "Ike" Nelson. Nelson was a horticulture professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette who was a leader in the early Louisiana Iris Society and died in a car accident in 1965, the year before the Iris offically named a species. Nelson collaborated with Lowell Fitz Randolph, and together they identified Iris Nelsonii, and Randolph named it after Nelson. In 1966, Iris Nelsonii was first published and described by Randolph in 'Baileya', a scientific journal of horticultural taxonomy, published quarterly by the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium (Cornell University).

Iris Nelsonii is very special because it is endemic to Louisiana, which means that it does not naturally grow anywhere else. The Iris Nelsonii is one out of the five iris species are native to Louisiana. Iris nelsonii is relatively large, growing 4-6 feet tall. The flowers are red or red-purple (sometimes pale yellow) and it blooms between late March and May.

Iris Nelsoniis were planted in Cypress Lake to honor it's name sake, the late Ira "Ike" Nelson and to continue efforts to preserve this rare iris. In 2020, 15 Iris Nelsoniis were planted in Cypress Lake. In 2022, 15 Iris Nelsoniis were planted Cypress Lake. In 2023, 35 Iris Nelsoniis were planted Cypress Lake. Pictured Below is the Iris Nelsoniis' bloom during the week of March 28th 2024. The irises were donated to the University by the Society for Louisiana Irises and planted by Billy Welsh with the Ira Nelson Horticulture Center, Society for Louisiana Irises members, Office of Sustainability, and AmeriCorps. Efforts to protect and educate the public about this Iris are underway with a Cypress Lake Master Plan and a Iris Nelsonii Educational Sign to be mounted at Cypress Lake as part of the Living Lab Signage Project. Cypress Lake has a long history of Iris plantings dating back to the 40's when Professor Ira Nelsoni planted test gardens and a mass planting of Abbeville Reds, Abbeville Yellows and other forms of native irises on the outer edges of Cypress Lake. Read more about this planting in the American Iris Society (AIS) Bulletin on the 1948 Society for Louisiana Irises (SLI) convention in Lafayette on campus here and read more about Cypress Lake here.

Its natural range is restricted to a single swamp in Vermilion Parish, which is privately owned. With ongoing conservation efforts these Irises have been introduced to Palmetto Island State Park and in UL Lafayette's Cypress Lake to make it viewable to the public and to protect these special Irises in protected habitats.

Download Louisiana's Wildlife and Fisheries Iris Nelsonii fact sheet here.