Traversière © Claudine Booth
The black iris is the epitome of beauty, its grandeur ensures that it sits on the throne of all of the wild flowers.
Spring brings with it joy and happiness, carrying in its folds the beautiful black iris, it is the time when wild flowers are blooming and sprout among the rocks, hills, dales and even on the desert edges.
The black iris is one of the rarest flowers in the world, and displays a very unique mix of colours, it is characterised by a dark purple almost black colour’ with a mesmerizing Lilac hue and a white spot in the middle of the flower.
These rare flowers grow in the Middle East especially in Jordan, around the Dead Sea, Jordan River, Ajloun Mountains at the edges of the desert. It can also be found near historic excavation sites, and there have been many inscriptions and mosaics of the iris. A British botanist, John Gilbert Baker, discovered these flowers during his exploratory mission to Jordan in the 1800's and he called them the black iris due to its dark purple almost black colour.
In spite of this flowers' beauty and apparent delicate look; it is know for its toughness and has the ability to survive in the harshest of environments, such as the Arabian Desert.
In Jordan, the black iris is called the queen of wild flowers not only for its beauty also due its length of up to 30 cm and is considered to be the national flower of Jordan. Many Tourists enjoy seeing this beautiful and unique flower when visiting the country during the Spring time in March and April.
King Abdullah II of Jordan believes in the importance of preserving this rare plant and among other initiatives has called one of the vehicles that is manufactured at the King Abdullah centre in Jordan the Black Iris!
A well-known Artist, painter and ceramicist from Jordan based in London. She has a degree in Fine Arts. Al Adwan is a member of the Richmond Arts Society London, House of Lebanon foundation in California and the Jordanian Artist Union.
