Taxonomic Reinstatement of the Endemic Chinese Species (Iridaceae) from and Reassessment of .

is a perennial herbaceous plant with yellow, blue, or purple flowers. The species is native to the Tibetan Plateau and adjacent areas. In the literature and databases, has long been treated in synonymy with . Currently, yellow-flowered plants of are considered , and blue-flowered plants are considered , a replacement name for var. . This study aimed to clarify the taxonomic identity of . A critical examination of original material, herbarium specimens, images of living plants, and the literature has shown to be different from in some previously neglected macromorphological traits and to be conspecific with . Thus, is removed here from the synonymy of and accepted as a distinct species. This is endemic to China (central Gansu, Qinghai, and northwestern Sichuan provinces, and also Xinjiang Uygur and Tibet autonomous regions) and reaches the highest elevations compared with all other species in the genus s.l. A revised taxonomy of is provided, and two color forms, often co-occurring, are accepted: the autonymic yellow-flowered form (including a new synonym var. for which a lectotype was designated) and a form with blue or purple colors is proposed here, f. . In addition, images of type specimens and detailed photographs of living plants for easy identification, along with the list of specimens of that were examined, and also, comments on its distribution and habitats are provided.