From the bayou country of south Louisiana and the neighboring lowlands of sister states comes the Louisiana Iris. John James Audubon was the first to call a Louisiana Iris by that name. With the Purula Warbler, he painted a rose-colored iris and in his notes designated it as a Louisiana Iris. The name stuck with the scientific community, which later determined that the iris belongs to the subsection Apogon (without beard or beardless), series Hexagonae of the genus Iris. Louisiana irises consist of five species, most of which are indigenous to the Gulf Coast area, but two of the species (I. brevicarlis and I.fulva) can be found upward along the Mississippi Valley and in the pine woods of the neighboring states. These irises are lovers of water and boggy conditions. The early explorers called them "Les Glis de Marais" or glads of the marsh. The native observers and discovery botanists marveled at the variety of colors, and particularly of the red iris. The color red had not been previously discovered in an iris until documented in 1812 by Ker Gauler. Years passed before other published documentation of the various species of Louisiana irises appeared for public review. Even though the cold-hardy and late-blooming I. brevicarlis was described by Retinaque in 1817, it was not until 1929 that botanist and iris lover Dr. J. K. Small named the giant blue of the coastal marshes, I. giganticaerulea, and it wasn’t until 1966 that Ira Nelson classified the species I. nelsonii, which is the nationally known "Abbeville reds" or "super fulvas."Collecting, hybridizing and growing became a hobby and a passion for a small group of people in the early 1930's, and from that group in 1941 the Society for Louisiana Irises was formed. The hybridizers began crossing the native species, and wonderful variations of irises were developed and eventually grown all over the country. The native Louisianans are the great ancestors of the current Louisiana irises on the market; but unfortunately, the abundance of bloom in the native habitat has given way to civilization. Although even today for a brave traveler to the edges and coves of coastal marshlands, giant stands of native blues can still be seen and appreciated. In mid-March out over the awakening marsh grasses are clumps of green foliage reaching almost five feet in height; and in the last week of March or the first week in April, the blue and purple blooms appear, observed mostly be trappers, fishermen, nesting alligators, and avid photographers.

What is being grown today are the hybrids of the native Louisiana iris. Hobby hybridizers have developed the Louisiana iris into a world class flower. These hybridizers have taken the natural limited hues and, by combination and experimenting with the new plants, have developed the large variety now available for market. The current irises can have larger flowers, ruffled blooms, halos around the bloom edge, different colors in the standards and falls (bi-tone coloration of the petals), and differences in when the irises bloom. Each stalk has numerous bud placements, and the first bloom is at the top of the stalk. This is called the terminal bud, and this bud placement may produce two or three blooms. It is not unusual for the other bud placements to have additional buds so that the total bud count may be as many as ten.