iris: see eye.

iris, common name for members of the genus Iris of the Iridaceae, a family of perennial herbs that includes the crocuses, freesias, and gladioli. The family is characterized by thickened stem organs (bulbs, corms, and rhizomes) and by linear or sword-shaped leaves—small and grasslike in the crocuses and blue-eyed grasses. It is widely distributed over the world except in the coldest regions and is most abundant in S Africa and in tropical America. Almost all of the family's 90-odd genera include commercially valuable ornamentals. The iris family is closely related to the lily and amaryllis families, differing from them in having three stamens rather than six. The cultivated irises (genus Iris), freesias (genus Freesia), and gladioli (genus Gladiolus) show a wide variety of colors in their large, usually perfumed blossoms; they are mostly hybrids of Old World species. The many species of wild iris are most common in temperate and subarctic regions of North America, where they are often called flags, or blue flags. The fleur-de-lis is thought to have been derived from the iris, and the flower of the Greek youth Hyacinth may have been an iris. Orrisroot, a violet-scented flavoring used in dentifrices, perfumes, and other products, is prepared from the powdered rhizomes of several European species of iris. The freesias, native to S Africa, characteristically bear their blossoms on a horizontal extension of the stem. The crocuses (genus Crocus), which usually bear a single yellow, purple, or white blossom, are native to the Mediterranean area and to SW Asia. One species, saffron, is cultivated commercially for a yellow dye made from the pollen; the unrelated meadow saffron or autumn crocus and the wild crocus or pasqueflower belong to the lily and buttercup families respectively. Other members of the family found in the United States are the blue-eyed grasses (genus Sisyrinchium) with small clusters of blue, white, or purplish flowers, ranging from Canada to Patagonia, and the celestial lily (genus Nemastylis) with pairs of blue flowers, ranging from the Kansas prairies to Tennessee and Texas. Irises are classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Liliopsida, order Liliales, family Iridaceae.

Murdoch, Dame Iris (Dame Jean Iris Murdoch), 1919-99, British novelist and philosopher, b. Dublin, Ireland. In 1948 she was named lecturer in philosophy at Oxford, and in 1963 she was made an honorary fellow of St. Anne's College, Oxford. Murdoch's novels, subtle, witty, convoluted, puzzling, and often wildly comic, have elicited widely differing critical interpretations. Murdoch views human beings as "accidental" creatures, purportedly free but actually constricted by the boundaries of self, society, and the natural world. Although the plots of her novels are complex, involving innumerable characters in seemingly endless configurations and punctuated by extraordinary incidents, they often focus on one individual's recognition that free will and self-knowledge are illusory.

Among Murdoch's 26 novels are The Flight from the Enchanter (1956), The Bell (1958), A Severed Head (1961), An Accidental Man (1972), The Sea, the Sea (1978; Booker Prize), Message to the Planet (1989), The Green Knight (1994), and Jackson's Dilemma (1995). Murdoch worked on dramatizations of two of her novels, A Severed Head (1963, with J. B. Priestley), and The Italian Girl (1967, with James Sanders), and she wrote several plays, including Art and Eros (1980). She also published Sartre, Romantic Rationalist (1953), The Sovereignty of Good (1971), The Fire and the Sun (1977), and Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals (1992). In 1956 she married John Oliver Bayley, the novelist and critic who wrote movingly of her in Elegy for Iris (1998). She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1987.

Iris, river: see Yeşil Irmak.

Iris, in Greek mythology, goddess of the rainbow; daughter of Electra and Thaumas. She was often represented as a messenger of Zeus and Hera.

(born July 15, 1919, Dublin, Ire.—died Feb. 8, 1999, Oxford, Oxfordshire, Eng.) British novelist and philosopher. A graduate of the University of Oxford, she worked as a university lecturer while pursuing her writing career. Her first published work was a study of Jean-Paul Sartre (1953). Her novels, including The Bell (1958), A Severed Head (1961), The Black Prince (1973), The Sea, the Sea (1978), and The Book and the Brotherhood (1987), typically have convoluted plots featuring philosophical and comic elements. Her nonfiction philosophical works include The Sovereignty of Good (1970) and Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals (1992). Her decline under Alzheimer disease was chronicled by her husband, the critic John Bayley, in Elegy for Iris (1999).

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(born July 15, 1919, Dublin, Ire.—died Feb. 8, 1999, Oxford, Oxfordshire, Eng.) British novelist and philosopher. A graduate of the University of Oxford, she worked as a university lecturer while pursuing her writing career. Her first published work was a study of Jean-Paul Sartre (1953). Her novels, including The Bell (1958), A Severed Head (1961), The Black Prince (1973), The Sea, the Sea (1978), and The Book and the Brotherhood (1987), typically have convoluted plots featuring philosophical and comic elements. Her nonfiction philosophical works include The Sovereignty of Good (1970) and Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals (1992). Her decline under Alzheimer disease was chronicled by her husband, the critic John Bayley, in Elegy for Iris (1999).

Learn more about Murdoch, Dame (Jean) Iris with a free trial on Britannica.com.