You are here

Iris Nelsonii - Abbeville Red Iris

Iris Nelsonii, also know as the Abbeville Red Iris, was discovered in 1930 in the swamps in (you guessed it) Abbeville Louisiana. 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.

The rarest species of Louisiana iris is Iris nelsonii. This iris is very special because it is the only plant that is endemic to Louisiana, which means that it does not naturally grow anywhere else. Iris nelsonii is relatively large, growing 4-6 feet tall. The flowers are red or red-purple (sometimes pale yellow). Its natural range is restricted to a single swamp in Vermilion Parish, which is privately owned. It has been introduced to Palmetto Island State Park and in UL Lafayette's Cypress Lake to make it viewable to the public. Iris Nelsonii's were planted in Cypress lake in the 2022 Spring Semester to honor the late Ira "Ike" Nelson and to continue efforts to preserve this rare iris. The irises were donated to the university by the Louisiana Iris Society and planted by the Office of Sustainability, Billy Welsh with the Ira Nelson Horticulture Center, and AmeriCorps.

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