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Uryu-numa Wetlands; Clump of Arctic irises (Iris setosa); The Arctic iris (Iris setosa), a species in the Iris genus, is a perennial found in wetlands at high elevations north of central Honshu, Its purple-colored blossoms resemble those of the Siberian iris (Iris sanguinea), The Uryu-numa Wetlands area is situated in the Mashike Mountains of northwestern Hokkaido at an elevation of 850 m, It is one of Japan's few mountainous high moors, The wetlands extend east to west for 4 km and north to south for 2 km, and are dotted with about 850 ponds of differing sizes, More than 200 species of rare flowers and other important plants can be seen here from the spring thaw to late autumn, The wetlands were designated as a protected area of Hokkaido in 1964, and in 2005 they were listed under the Ramsar Convention.