The Barbary Nut (Gymnandriris sisyrinchium) is an attractive, almost ‘miniature’ looking member of the iris family of flora. These plants are fairly common and can be found along the sandy shorelines of Southern Portugal and Spain and into the Mediterranean, but they only grow to around 20cm, much smaller than most other irises. For nature lovers, getting to see them in full bloom like this is quite a treat – each flower will only open for about half a day when the temperature is right, closing with the setting of the sun, never to re-open again. However, each bulb does produce several flowers that do not open all at once. As with many plants there are a few other colloquial names for this plant too, such as Spanish nut and blue iris.
