In the past, up to hundreds of years ago,[1][2] in the Levant,[3] Arabs,[4] and Muslims,[10] planted Iris albicans,[4][43] (another white flowering bearded iris) and Iris mesopotamica in cemeteries,[6] and graveyards,[7] beside the graves, as an ornamental.[8] Including in Israel, Palestine, North Africa and Syria (since the 16th century).[43] Some graveyards and cemeteries were later abandoned, allowing the iris to become naturalised in some sites.[10]