Not to be semantically confused with : Stinking Chamomile (Anthemis cotula), Stinking Tutsan (Hypericum hercinum), Stinking Hellebore (Helleborus foetidus), Stinking Hawk's'beard (Crepis foetida), Stinking Fleabane (Dittrichia graveolens), Stinking Goosefoot (Chenopodium vulvaria) [plants with similar names from differing families]

Uniquely identifiable characteristics

Distinguishing Feature : The orange berry-like fruit in the pods. No other Iris has them quite like this.

It is native to some parts of the UK only, such as to Channel Isles, and Britain North to North Wales and Norfolk. Elsewhere it is naturalised, but only beside freshwater.

Stinking Iris is the only Iris with bright orange fruits (which, being spherical, look more like berries but are not hanging loose, but rather contained within pods). The orange fruit, which contains seeds, is poisonous, as are most (if not all?) other parts of the plant. The plant is variously said to smell of roast beef, foetid, or of sweetly acrid meat which is a bit 'high' (off). It may not smell throughout the year, though.