What Kind of Iris Am I With a Stair Stepped Rhizome? And Seeds To Swap

From In the Garden

I was reworking a garden recently when I decided to dig up these 'walking irises'. At least that is what I believe these irises to be. I purchased these irises at the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show a few years ago. The irises were marked 'walking irises'. I've researched walking irises on the web and cannot find a picture of the cool rhizome anywhere. Worse still is the fact that while I can find 'walking irises' I cannot find one that looks like mine. I am hoping someone can help me identify this iris.

From In the Garden

This iris is most hardy and has grown so much I had to divide it and spread it around. The flowers reach to about 4' tall and bloom in May with a long blooming period. I seem to remember some interesting seed capsules as well on the plant.

The rhizome is what interests me most. The rhizome actually stair steps up into what appears to be a rhizome with stems growing out of it. The stems are equidistant apart and the whole effect is really neat and something I've not seen before. Both ends of the rhizome (low and high) have fat roots coming off of them. The rhizomes are narrower than bearded irises and have a distinctive marking of brown bands with green stripes.

Can anyone tell me what type of iris I have? If it is a walking iris any ideas on the cultivar?

in the garden....

Update! Randy at Randy and Meg's Garden Paradise has identified my iris with a quick follow up from Darla at More Family and Flowers. It is Louisiana iris. And while looking at it on the Internet I realized I have planted mine too shallow. Apparently these irises like to have their rhizomes covered with soil. Guess I'll be fixing that today since I planted my rhizomes on top of the soil like I do with bearded irises. It is so helpful to know what kind of plant this is now. And I must say that while this iris grows in bogs and ponds, mine is doing fine on top of a gravelly soil in full sun with no additional water. Though they did get a bit tattered recently when I reworked this bed I think it is normal this time of year but I'll be more careful with it next year in case of drought. I do realize I need to fertilize it a bit and may even try growing it in my bathtub pond now that I know it will work there. I can't tell you how glad I am that it has been identified!:)

Thanks for helping me out this morning!