Houseplant Bloom: Walking Iris

This weekend a little houseplant offered its first and very brief blossom.  Neomarica gracilis, Walking Iris.  It sent up a couple stalks to bloom over the past weeks, and then, suddenly, there was the bud, like a balloon, ready to pop, on Friday morning.

And it did open that day. I'd gotten a piece off a friend's plant a few years ago.  I'd never seen the likes of it before, and she did not know what it was either.  Dear Google gave us the answer.

Rather tropical looking, and with an interesting scent.  Somewhat perfumey, and I kept thinking, "what does that remind me of?"  It was kind of a soapy scent, like cilantro, to my nasal reckoning.  By the end of that same day, this flower shrivelled up and was done.  Here it is the day after it's bloom.  

It's should have one more blossom before it's done.  Then, the stalks that bloomed will start to grow new plantlets on them.  That's how I got mine in the first place.  In more tropical climes, when these irises grow outside, the flower stalks will grow plantlets, droop down, root, and the clump spreads by 'walking.'  Walk on, I say, walk on.