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Home , Iris japonica, Iris lactea, Iris tigridia, Iris uniflora

GROUP OF NORTH AMERICA

I . tenuis at Kew Gardens photo by J. Cooper

# 43 Fall, 1989 pp. 1541-1580 5F-EC1ES IRIS GROUP OF NORTH ArlERICA ·f= a .U. 1989 N Ltmber 4.3

OFFI CERS & EXECUTIVES

CHAIRt••.1AN: Co.tu. H.1.,:i_;by 2 087 Curtis ik. Penngrove.. CA 9LOf-95! V!CE- CHAIRM!AN: L ee ~ 1e!.s~ 7979 W. 0 Ave. K a l a ma~oo.. ~H 49009 SIE.CHE.f1-\RY ~ F.io,rl'l l lol!lldale, ,)ntari.o·• Ca;;i,ada M2R 2E5 SlGt-~A E.iHTOR::o ..Qoain 9:;.0-aper 212 tl. Count y Road C •Roseville. MN 55113 PAST PRESIDENT: Elau1e Huh,er t' Route 3 . Box 57 Floy d, VA 2 4091 'JS.ruce R1 chardson

CONTENTS Fal l ~ 1989-- No. 43

CHA I RritAIN-" S MESSAGE. Colin Rigby 1541 RE?OR 'lf' FlRi)I~ THE: SJE:C:q~Ell',A,R'f F 1,-:»renc e Stout 1542 OUR REA.i\::.R'' S ~FU T!E: E lai ne Hu Jl.bert 1542 NEW rtEM. .li:\ER:S 19819 Florence S tout 1543 IN !!'1E~l0ffh\rll F lorenc:e Stou·t 1543 SEED E)i ~ANGE !REIP1Qfiff Phoebe Copley 1544 T. REASURE R~s REPOR~ !Robert Pries 1545 GO(~D- YEJ''ffhEJ~E::O lN!Air~~\ lfOID)IES; Roy Davi d'<-.,,;on 1545 CHINA lR[S P~:,JEC"l!"--~)ST 1nu :1? REPORT .J'a.llhes ~ a ddi elk 1546 IRIS ANfiU!FUEA idr;:\).I/J8 ll.l!ll9 ) Vu-lrang Zhao 1558 GEOGRAPHil,C~\L 1nsrnftlt~1u'n:\)lt,( C~F uus IN \'1u.-1Larrr,,.g 2th.ai.o 1559 IRIS IRESEARCiH J:N CHl~ Jlaimes ibraaddi elk 1563 Si/.JCCESS N I TH iNl-\TJV1E HUS .lt N FU) fUDA GARDENS M . Hasi!!lda.rd 1564 R'll..)B IN NOlt'S FHOIJi!Rl:TE A!t~)t,l ~-...LO!E: CROSSES Sa1mn lrJo~~'il" JI. '.S 1 575 W't!;!lat--it ILeFev

SilG~A 'l:.s iPun::d :nslhieirj t~•~;o t :im,,,es ipei~ ye.. "l. r, f a) 1 an(dl spr ·].ng. We we l come cont-1.bu t i~·ns t'f"o~ ;-~e.;J.IE'll"'lll(iis siorn ·tt: o r eprint ,,,m'!,.I: fJ!llatr:e Y-' iial ih.lf'sit ip;'ff"esent'ed !t\e re. Deadl irnes a11--e F ed:ir1"1L1tary 1 to~ s;:PrHlf31 .~nu Se::, ·temlbeil'· :11. 5 f·or f·a llr Yo ur .adc!iir'ess ii.aibie :li ::indica t es your cu:<~rel"l t dues s-r at:us- Ouest ions--c on t act Floren,:ce St:au·t ~ 1541 CHAIRMAN'S MESSAGE

It doesn't seem possible that another year is drawing to a close, and in l ooking back over that year, we thought you might be interested in some of the things the SIGNA Executive is working on. A major happening this past year was Or . James Waddick's successful trip to China to collect the native irises of that coun try. A detailed accounting of his trip is published in this issue . SIGNA was pleased to be one of the sponsors of Dr . Waddick's trip , and in addition to a modest financial contribution , supplied books on iris as well as seed of North American iris species for giving to his Chinese friends . We sincerely hope that this venture is the beginning of an ongoing exchange of information, seed and/or iris between our two countries . Or . Waddick will also give a slide showing of his trip at the SIGNA Sectional meeting at the AIS National Convention at Omaha next spring . We hope you can attend. Gene Opton asked to be relieved as treasurer of SIGNA and Bob Pries has now taken over that job. Gene served for eight years in that position and we sent a special thank you for a job well done. A project that has been in the works for some time is something we loosely term as "Roy's Handbook." This is in celebration of SIGNA's 20-plus years as a section of AIS. The handbook will have some new material, a recap of some of the better articles published in t he early issues of SIGNA, black and white illustrations, and, hopefully, some iris reproductions in color. Bruce Richardson has written a history of t he early years of SIGNA, some of the illustrations will be by Jean Witt, and Roy Davidson will edit the whole t hing. We hope it will be ready for distribution to our membership sometime next year. We haven't given up the idea of 'iris preservation' although response to this has not been great . Perhaps we hav e given a wrong impression as to what we have in mind. Alan McMurtrie has done a wonderful job of compiling a source list of the bulbous iris species and we feel a need for a simi lar· source reference listing for the other species and their hybrids. We get inquiries all the time from people asking "Where can I get so and so?" or "Is such and such still available?" Compiling such a source reference list is a big job, a job with several people working together, but we think it can and should be done . We welcome your ideas and comments on how this can be accomplished. Just knowing that a species or species hybrid is being grown is in itself iris preservation.

Colin Rigby ************ 1542 A REPORT FROM THE SECRETARY A cheery hello from Lombard, Illinois! Last week it was snowing but this week it ' s balmy, shirt-sleeve weather. How is it in your corner of the world? ~~ more earthquakes, or Hugos, I hope. Last year SIGNA boasted 643 members, with many new members hanging on from the tempo rary pull of Horticulture magazine (Opton's article on Californicae species was irresistible.) This year we leveled off to a more realistic number; we now have 13 paid LIFE members, and many who are paid ahead as triennial members making a total of 595. Several members have been lost through death, see memorials el sewhere , some have admitted to getting to the no gardening stage of life and after years of service they deserve mentioning. (Please do, Florence. ED) There are three dozen or so new members this year, and we all want to stretch out a welcoming hand. Let us know your problems, as well as your successes. It's by working together that progress is made. (It I s more fun, too.) I have included a 1 i st of our newest members. If you find there is someone in your region, why not make a special effort to help that one? Incidentally, is your RVP a member of SIGNA? He should be! Maybe you could · sponsor him (or her) for the first year. Are your regiona 1 judges aware of SIGNA? We now have nice brochures you can pick up at the convention (or write me). They explain what SIGNA is all about and have a place for membership application. For everyone: On your label this time your exprration date is in the lower r i ght corner. The first two numbers are t he year, and the last two, either 01 or 07 mean January or mid-year. If you are de linquent, t here wi 11 be a red dot to call your attention to this fact. (I'd like to give all subscriptions free, but I can't.) So assume respons ibility for getting your dues in on time and save the society the cost of postal reminders. Another reminder, if you are moving, please let us know before we mail out issues to your old address and then have to pay to get them back and pay again to re-address . A postcard to me is all it takes and the post office furnishes them! Thanks for helping your society work smoothly. Florence Stout ************ OUR READERS WRITE Elaine Hulbert would like to hear from anyone growing seedlings from Korean seed distributed in 1987 under the numbers 86Ll52 , L436, J435, N437, N438. Identification of this seed was difficult, an d early reports of the seedlings vary in their testimony. Some appears to be true, and some does not . What are yo u getting? (Elaine 's address is Route 3, Box 57, Floyd, VA 24091). ************ 1543

NEW MEMBERS--August 31, 1989

Bench. Janet 7112-229 Pan Am Fwy NE. Albuquerque NM 87109 Berry, Jeanette. 22 O'Shannessy St. Nunawing 3131 Viet. Aus. Boggs. JoKaye NCDL 1856781 Rt 3 Box 740 Boone NC 28607 Flintoff. Jerry J. 154 NE 194 St. Seattle WA 98155 Gaffney. Sharon L 10210 SE 196 Renton WA 98055 Gillespie, Frances P 4 Harris Ave. Milford MA 01757 Goetz. Betty 22211 - 39th Ave SE Bellevue WA 98021 Greater Kansas City Iris Soc. 838 S 102.Edwardsvl KS 87109 Hempel, Mrs David 6500 74 1/2 Ave N. Minneapolis MN 55428 Hollingsworth. Ethel A 328 Crescent Dr Lake Bluff IL 60044 Illingworth, Robert Rt 7 Thunder Bay, ONT P7C 5V5 Canada Johnston. Barbara 2844-B Gales Way Forest Grove OR 97116 Litynski. Beverly 265 Main St Binghamton.NY 13905 Markert, Irma & Norbert 102 Proctor Ave Ogdenburg NY 13669 McKane , Sarah 229 Ludlowvil le Rd Lansing NY 14882 Randall, John 4509 Lafayette, Omaha NE 68132 Strohman. Robert Lee 4015 Landside Dr Louisville KY 40220 Southern Calif. Iris Soc. 626 N Lyall Av West Covina CA 91790 Tusker Press PO Box 1338, Sebastopol CA 95473 Vanslyke. Elvin & Jeanne PO Box 340 Graham WA 98338 Woodbury, Joan Rt 1 Box 139-B-1 Gaston OR 97119

( provided by Florence Stout)

IN MEMORIAM

Elden Burgess, Plainwell, Michigan

W. G. Childers, Hamlin, West Virginia

Barney Hobbs, Noblesville, Indiana

Frank Kalisch, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Robert Wallace, Fort Dodge, Iowa l 54 4 SEED EXCHANGE REPORT

The 1 988 Seed Exchange is past and the 1 989 Exchange is well on it's way with some very interesting seeds having been received so far. A brief report of the 1988 Exchange would seem to be in order at this point. 206 orders were received and roughly 6500 packs of seed were sent out. This includes ordered seeds, substitutes, extras and 200 packs sent with Dr. James Waddick to be distributed on his trip to China. Some Pardancanda seeds were sent and the rest were native American seeds . These were sent after all orders were filled and included no PCNs. Those were sent by La Rue Boswell. Many substitutes had to be made, but with the rush of orders and the extremely short supply of some of the seeds there was nothing else to be done. Many kind notes were received and greatly appreciated. In the SPRING 1989 report, it was stated that seeds/or lists should be received by me no later than NOVEMBER 1 to be included in this year's seed list. By seeds/or lists, I mean that if seeds will be available, but not yet ripened, a list can be sent with the name and, if possible, the approximate quantity that will be available. They can then be sent as soon as possible a nd will be included in this year's list. If seeds or a list cannot be sent by November 1, any seeds sent after that date will be either used as substitutes or held over until the following year. Seed should be cle an and well marked. Some description is welcomed provided it is not too long or can be condensed. From comments received the information included by the donors is appreciated. The price of the seeds will remain the same as last year - 45¢ per pack except for seeds from other years which will be 20¢. the cost of postage is quite a significant item of expen se as are the cost of the supplies. In closing, I would like to say that the seeds sent in are greatly appreciated and that the greater the variety the better the Seed Exchange will be.

Phoebe Copley

September 11, 1989 L545 TREASURER'S REPORT First Three Quarters of 1989

RECEIPTS DISBURSEMENTS Membership $ 1,657 .44 Publications $ 150.00 Publications 10.00 SIGNA 1,050.00 Seed Exchange 1,308.50 Officer's Expense 141.27 Interest 120.00 China Project 750.00 Miscellaneous 103 .40 $ 3,095.94 $ 2,194.67

Cash in Checking $ 5,815.77 Ti me De po s its 9,120 . 00 ASSETS $14,935.77

************

GOOD-TEMPERED NEMATODES

SIGNA p. 1413 advised that those gardens i nfested with the iris borer moth, the larva of which chews into the growing end of the down in the fan, and presto, first feeds on the primordia that would have become the f lowering stalk •.• these gardens ought to be innoculated with the beneficial nematode . Even if this moth is not a problem it wou ldn't be a bad i dea to investigate because these nematodes parasitize all insect s whose life cycle is partly out of sight in the ground. In the recent fall issue of American Horticulturist (Sept . 1989), Dr. Klein of the horticultural Research lab in Wooster, Ohio, reports that where these have been employed, the Japanese beetle population has been very greatly reduced, as have cutworms and other grubbies. In fact, these beneficial nemato des are a very important element of the 11 rhizosphere 11 or root growth zone of the Earth, to which we ought to be paying more attention than ever. What t hey are tel ling us is that if they are not present in our own Rhizosphere, they should be. B.L.D. ************ 1546 China Iris Project- Post Trip Report By James W vVaddick

(During May of 1989 I conducted an Iris collecting trip to China as outlined in SIGNi1• NeVvSletter #4 l, p. 14 71. Follovving is an edited version of the report sent to my twenty sponsors in the U.S., Canada and France.) Overview The trip T

Publication notes Each sponsor ,;,,vas sent a copy of the manuscript of "Native Species of Iris to Province" bv, Yen Chi. Proiessor Yen was mv, host in Sichuan. He is the Director of the Tritaceae Research Institute of Sichuan Agricultural University. He and his wife, Prof. Yang Jun Liang, are Professors of Botany at that University. Iris are his hobby and combined vvith his interests in genetics, cell physiology and microbiology he has made some interesting discoveries. The two iris kno·wn as I. japonica and I. conf u.sa share some curious similarities; both have highly variable chromosome numbers (from 13 to 75) even from cell to cell in the same material, l)oth hav~ irregular cell divisions usually stiowing tripolar division planes, both show cytomiXis as the usual· condition (he showed me some very unusual microphotos of (liromosomes lining up along adja<:ent cell walls), botli have a larg~ percentage of empty or aborted grains, both rarely make fruit and the fruit rarely have viable seed. I. coniusa is considered no more than an erect form of I. japonica. Also s~~ my coll~cting nows on th~s~ two sp~ci~s lawr in my repc>rt. (Since this is an unpublished manuscript involving serious scientific name changes it is not possible to reprint any details or distribute this furtl1er at this time. Prof. Yen allowed the limited distribution to trip sponsors oniy) 1548 CHINA IRIS PROJECT--POST TRIP REPORT Eastern China Two locations were visited - - Shanghai I·,Aunicipal District (primarily the '.E\()tanica1 Garden) and Hangzhou; Zheijiang Province (primarily the Botanical Garden). Shanghai- I received fl() Iris from Shanghai. They u.se<.1 to have a staff member interested in Iris and had collected almost 75 Iris species and cultivars. ·when the staff member departed, the Iris collections fell into disarray and most can no longer be found. The only species seen blooming on display were scattered plants of Iris ochroleuca ( a spuria), I. sanguinea .L pseu.d3.con-1.s. I tect£X1J.m 8.nd L iaponica pallescens. In another research section of the garden tl1ere was a gloriou.::; vigorous show of Louisiana Iris hybrids. I llad sent these with the help of Bob Ward of Little Rock Arkansas in the summer of 19&5. They were four ro five feet tall and at the peak of bloom. The groTvl/ing conditions are poor for most iris in Shanghai. The soil is rough rubble and alkaline (almost pH 8). The water t-1ble is Vv'ithin 40-60cm oi the surface and plants requiring good drainage mu.st be grown on raised mounds. The air is also very humid. The Lousiana Iris donated by Bob Ward ::,_nd I in 1935 11ave alreacly been dividecl repeatedly and distributed to a few otller Botanical Gardens in China. They have more plans for Louisiana iris ·wnich I hope to assist them with later. The Shanghai Botanical Garden provided me with the full time assistance of one of their staff to accompany me on all travels. Mr Lu Bo is in charge of their production greenhouses. He spent almost an entire year as a staff trainee at the Missouri Bot-1nical Garden in 1986. He is primarily interested in orchid production. He acted as my assistant in many practical T0.ra.ys, translator and travelling companion. i~ilmost daily he saTved me large amounts of money by dealing directly wiU-1 Chinese sources. Without his translation help I would have been lost. Without his good natured companionship I would have been totally isolated from most Chinese contad.s. Hangzhou- .a.tmost the same Iris were grovvn in Hanzhou as Shanghai except there were more and better displayed plantings. I also saw a few old ·nags· (bearded iris hybrids) in sad condition. Like most other botanical gardens there was a large Herb Garden section and there were many plantings of special material or medical interest. Thanks to the manager and supervisor of this garden I was able to get three Iris:

T..-1·,.. r-:gec1 11 T,M,.. 1 A• .1.1 ~.:;, -•~10."t ...ll.A ·--~ , - +-h,•.-1-1-0,.. 'IV C.\V m1·,..,,,h"'-1ll ~J.C\L.'C lV~.f'"'rl 11.1..... +-h-"\.· t;' rva..-d""'nb .1 j.V ,,,...Ct~ _I proantha ~ralida. About l square meter of plants were groTvl/ing in more than ! i2 s!1ade and just corning into bloom. The first day a single bud v,.1as shovving (X)lor and on my second and third day's visit it just reiused to open. Finally we force

Northeast China One central location vvas visited (Chang Chun, Province) vlith ~xcursions as not~d. I ~,..,as hoswd h~r~ by Profassor Zhao Yu-tang a Profossor of Botany at N.E. Normal University. He is also Director of the Botanical Society of China. and an honorary meml)er of the British Iris Society. He is t.he autt1or of the Iris section in the and has just begun a

... ,. .t . ,6 (• - 4 • ,11 \ • 41 4 • ~ ,1 ? I... T • ? '""'-<1 • popuiar oooK un r.ng11sn1 on me cu.iture, care ana 10re 01 tne ins 01 Lnma 1550 CHINA IRIS PROJECT--POST TRIP REPORT yo1v'ith Brian Mathe\q (Ro7a.l Bot-1nical Gardens-Kev.,.•) as co-author. Zhao currently has four graduate students working on Iris projects such as pollen structure, l(aryotypes. physiology and m1croanatomy. He 1s friendly, good humored, intellhient and e1.>tremeiv hetoiui. it was a ere::,t oleasure to meet '-' , .&. ._, j, and travel \qith him. rNe vv·ere accompanied by his tc.,p graduate student, (his ·successor') Xie Hang a very astute and avid student and collector. Discussions ~1ith Zhao and Xie led to many exciting proposals I hope to help them develop lat.er. The climate in Chang Chun and much of Central Jilin is comparable to drier parts of central a.nd northern midwest. Large are3.S of grasslands, low rainfall and temp€-ratures dropping as lov1l as -40 F (-40 C) in winter. Summer peaks get to about 95 F (.35 C). There is little snow cover. Almost all trees here are planted and the tvvo primary speces are a hybrid seedless poplar (P. x pekinense) and Box Elder (Acer negundo. an American weed tree). There are some pines and -;,,·,.ri.llow-3 for vvindbreaks. In May it is hot, dry, "INindy and dusty!

A. - Zhao and Xie picked me and my companion up at the airport and we travelled directly to tlle campus of N.E.Normal University where he pulled us over to the small parkway between car arKl Ncycle lanes. There in the middle of a large busy boulevard v1,,•as I. uni flora in full bloom! The next day we travelled to Tu Ivlen Ling a small village about 65 km N.E . of Chang Chun, (tov,,ard Jilin City). In the dry hills above the village v,,e collected numerous I. uniflora. This species vrc1s in full bloom. It ~Nas a remarkably uniform plant although we found a single plant in reddish purple and a small clump in very pale lilac. Xie says it is easy to dig and move if kept totall}, dry (unfortunately it w-as oven-1.ra.tered in ·storage· in Shanghai). It is an excellent rock garden plant with bright purple flowers held v1ret1 above the foliage. It was quite common. It grovvs both in the open in lo'vv grass and in the edge of mixed and pine forests. In deeper shade it 1.nras not in bloom. Seeds are disbursed by ants according to Zhao. B. Iris mandshurica- Also found at Tu Men Ling mixed Vvith I. uniflora but just coming into bloom. The bright yellovv bearded flowers vvere a very pleasant surprise. I'd consider t11is one of the best rock garden candidates. It v\>'"a.S less common than I .uniflora. but difficult to find except w11en in bloom.There is basically no rhizome, but a tuft of fleshy roots is distinctive. Plants form small clumps a1v.,,ays in full sun in grass on rocky soil. This was one of the plants vvhich suffered most in transit and only a few were available for distribution but it should not be too difficult to establish if gi"vyen excellent drainage, full sun and careful Vlatering. C. - After nearly a ten hour train ride to N.W. Jilin Province "'He got to Bai Cheng, tt-ie capital of Bai Cheng District. We trave!!ed around a 1oo km. circuit to the S()Utll and east of Bai Cheng in search of L tenuifolia. This iris is impossible to locare out of Noom except by accident. In vv'inter it is totally dormant underground, in spring a fe,q thin leaves emerge __ continued 1551 I and the plant blooms. fJter bloom the leaves continue to elongate and are very thin and grassy. The plants grow in iine grain glacial and T#ind deposited loess soil that is extreme!? compacted. Once plants ~.1ere located in mid-bloom season it was diificult to dig plants in this "concrete soil". The cr(Yvvn is 3-4 incl1es belo,N soil level and tlle v,1iry roots are difficult to extract. This is a difficult plant to obtain and difficult to re-establish. Xie recommends planting in pure sand with a small dash of salt (there are numerous salt-pans around the area) and very light careful vvatering ..-och-irtot-1 -:;i11'Yloct entfrc.1u tr. 6 6 .1. V -J',J-.1..L">;•.A.,-.....V..j,J.J._J. ..JV .I. w.1.v1.1 Vv tho"-"1,.1.V .&.A.lYfl 0"lnlcA. \,r,l.,J of.I. .1..1.April · 1.1.iJ.11\/fa..,, ,, ' JUnV . S1·r:1C"'V th1·-~ 1·c:- th. '"v"" beginning of new growth, these plants could produce both new roots and new cro..,Nns if given good care. The flowers are definitely curious rather than attractive and the plant will probably remain a horticultural curiosity. D. Iris ventricosa - From Bai Cheng we drove almost t11ree llours in four-wheel drive vehicles to Wulanhot (Red City), Inner . After almost a full day of clearances, permits and meetings a caravan oi iour vehicles and sixteen people made it to the grounds of the temple of Cheng Ji Si Han (Genghis Khan, The Mongolia hero) to collect. We immediately iound L ventricosa common in the area. Although closely related to I. tenuifolia . this is a iar more handsome flo,qer 3.nd the gro,.. vth form seems more robust. It has potential for roe!( gardens and grovvt11 in the proper climate. The soil here ,.,\,as even drier and harder than earlier and after breaking one trowel in half we sent for a pick and finally managed to unearth sufficient of this species. The roots are less brittle and the leaves V·rider than in I. tenuifolia. The distinctive feature of this species is the inflated beneath each floVv~r that mak~s this a very distinctive plant. Very hardy. E. - Also found on the grounds of the temple of Cheng Ji Si Han in . We searched for quite a while to locate this Iris vvithout success until we iound one plant not in bloom. This is a very small dry grassy Iris that is quite inconspicuous. Once we found a plant we enlisted our entourage of 16 to assist and eventually we found more plants. Tlley had nearly finished bloom and were forming fruit. They tended to grow near or beneath the scrubby shrubs planted for erosion control. We found another plant in bloom under the shade of a Juniper. The flo,qers are not large but curiously marke-d and streaked (striped) with dark purple on a. light~r groutl(l. Tllis species has fleshy roots and gro°VITS similarly to L mandshurica. A charming rock garden plant that should be easy to re­ establish. Very hardy. F. Iris (Pardantliopsis) clicliototna - On tlie road from Vvulanhot ( about 30 km. east) we stopped to Iris hunt. This location is just inside the border of Inner Mongolia. We stepped through a iorty foot "'1:ide poplar windbreak on to a dry treeless hillside covered in thin dry grass. Th9 low hills ,;,,,ere used for sheep grazing and looked barren. Zhao found I. dichotoma under 1 inch tall emerging from this dry soil. Once our "eyes \qere opened" we found tllem everywhere. They must have been one per square foot as far as we could see aithough none were more than an inch tail. i suspect in late summer the 1552 CHINA IRIS PROJECT- -POST TR I P REPORT hillside ,,vould be an amazing sight. Plants \".rere dug easily. (The Greater Kansas City Iris Society plants were m.aking nev-.1 gro1.~1th 1Nithin tv,,10 days of being planted). r believe tllere were enougll plants for everyone to get at ieast two olants and thev are obviouslv suited to fu.11 sun. drv climates and .I. I I · I very cold hardy. This environment v-.:ras much 11arsller than I had been av.rare of and llad considered tl1is something of a delicate species in need of a protected site. G. Iris flavissima - Returning from Bai Cheng we got oif the early train in the city of Giang Guo about half 'Nay to Chang Chun. We took a car north to Fu Yu City. This city is closed to all foreigners and took even more permits to mak€' it 3.n<)t11er 2 5 km north to the small village of Shan Men 8.ncl the site of the Farmers Professional College v,Jhere we located I. flavissima gro'vving in sand in small uncultivated plots betv,,een test fields on tlle college grounds . •t..t first look I was amazed to see I. mandsllurica again as tl1ese species are remarkabl}1 similar in bloom. This species vvas just coming into bloom and v,,re found only a fevl blooming clumps. The flower is actually more like a typical standard dv.,rarf bearded iris. The rhizome is totally unlike .L. rnandshurica however, but is the thickness of a pencil and completely buried underground. It is pale and fleshy in color vvith thin feeder roots. There are no fleshy roots as in I. mandshurica. This 11as good rock garden potential in full sun to very light shade and ~,ery sand;,1 soil. Quite hardy. H. chinensis - According to Zllao I. lactea is an indicator plant for pastures in decline. The fresh grov,.rth is not eaten by sheep until late vvinter 1vvhen the foliage is totally dry and there is nothing else left to eat. Vve found only a single plant just emerging a fev,, inches from the ground and too early for bloom. Zhao says it is very common in some areas and generally disliked by farmers. It is one of tl1e fe,,\7 native species actually in,:reasing its range. A~most fool proof as a garclen plant in most climates, but it can be difficult to transplant. Best grown from seed. See further notes on this species in Sichuan.

Western China/Sichuan I vvas hosted here by Prof. Yen Chi (see Publication Notes above) and llis wife Prof. Yang Jun Liang with the help of his able graduate student Mr. Zhou Yau Dong. Although I flew to Chengdu the actual time was divided between the town of Guan Xian about 45 km northeast of Chengdu (site of tt1e Tritaceae Research Institute) and the toVv'f1 of Ya-an (home of tlle main campus of Sichuan Agricultural University) about 150 km southwest of Chengdu. All three sites are located in tlle Sichuan Basin, a relatively flat area surrounded by mountains. This basin vtas a glacial refuge during the ice ages and is thus the home of many ancient relicts such as the Giant Panda, Da\N!l Red\Nood and more. The climate is sub-tropical although frosts are fe\h! and gen~rally of sliott duration. continued 1553 ,.A,._ Iris tect,xum - This is t11e commonest Iris in all of China and its common name J-::w _W{!;IJ simply means "Iris". I saw it planted in beds and in bloom in Shanghai, Hangzhou and along the roads else\\7'.here. The plants are remarkably uniform in color but very distinctive everywhere. The first full day trip irom Guan Xian ~Aras nort11 into the mountains tov-?ards th~ famous Vif olong Giant Panda Research Station. I collected numerous divisions of this species from different plants to get a broad selection of ,Nild, uncultivated plants. Plants seem to set seed well and they vvere common in many diiferent habitats. B. Iris Japonica pallescens - Although this is a common Iris everyv?liere in mil(l parts of China I don't believe this form is cultivated in the US. This is tl1e free blooming white flowered form. In Shanghai it had t1uge trusses of v... 'hite flowers in Nocks oi street side plantings. By May 5-6 it Tvv"a.S at its peak in Shanghai and all done by May 14. In Sichuan on May 16 it v.,ras glorious eveq1\o\1iere. It is a robust plant -:Nith pure v-1hite flov-.1ers 11 111 1 f"" '"' r ,..,..T,T m1C/.l,.. ... k~-1<:'\. bTTI C.,,. 11·g-i1t.l TT.,.,lloT,,.1 v Yv '"'1·gn"l;:> i C.\ O"'U. tt.-."Ji,;;- H.\U.;:). i :::>C.\YY I..Ji~n1TT J "·n"•.• , it::' '-..-iL\- m .....J:-' \of H-."W.l<:::- typical blue form (tlle form cultivated in the US) in the wild in Sidman, but I sav,,1 it cultivated in both Shanghai and Hangzhou. It grows in both sun and st1ade oiwn in wet places. According to a student of Yen tllere is very little seed production in the wild. He counted flowers and fruits ; in 1988 only 15 iruits v.,ere found out of 4330 nowers ( 0 ..35%) and in 1939 only 1 fruit in 1393 flowers (0.07%). Yen does think there may be diploid races of this species as he has seen herbarium sheets from extremely SW Sichu.an with stems having up to eight seed pods each. This is obviously a species in need of much field and lab research to determine the state of affairs. See also comments above in Publications and below in I. confusa. C. Iris lactea chinensis - On May 16 we drove north along the upper stretches of the Men River past Wen Chuan and Mao Wan toward Song Pan, a possible sight for one of my goals, I. narcissiflora. Half ·Nay from Iviao Wan to Song Pan we came to an impassable mud slide. We had already passed over at least four or five vaguely flattened roadvvays over other slides and crossed innumerable other barriers including getting out of the car twice to guide the driver over rocks and ruts, but this -.:Nas too much of a barrier. A bulldozer -was working on the slide and allowing pedestrian traffic to get across the· mess percheel 2 00 feet above the raging river belO\o\r. In the otherwise bare mud above the slide were patct1es of I. !act.ea chinensis in full bloom. I scrambled up the mud and dug enough for a full distribution of tliis species. Tllis river valiey is set in a pat~rn of ·rain shado-:.,vs· so it is hotter and drier tllan most other vallevs nearbv and is inhabited by the distinctive Chung people from far NW China' ' D. Iris sichuanensis - this proved to b~ an elu'.;ive and re-.:..,rarding Iris. Driving back irom our aborted trip to Sc>ng Pan we saw many pat..ches of L tedoru.m gro,,\1ing in the cliffs but no other iris of interest.. South of Vfen Cl1uan we saw an odd group of "I. tectorum" t)looming l1igll on the cliff faces. 0 \ fo got out_. but couid not get dose enough to see the fiovvers .. but the foiiage 1554 CH INA IRIS PROJECT--POST TRIP REPORT ~Aras clearly different! At one spot we 'v'lalked dow•n the road and up to a field above the cliff to see the plants better and b)1 banging over the cliff I v1,,as able to get one plant-not in bloom. It was obvious from the short knobby rhizome and thick roots that it v.:ras not tectorum reqardless.., of the ilov,,er . Later do\.vn the road we found a couple close enough to see the large purple fl(:>v,,ers and it proved to key out easily to Iris sichuanensis. Both Zhao and Yen nov.;r feel that this is synon)rmous Vlith L leptoph~,ua. but the flo,A,1,e-rs of I. sichuanensis are almost twice the size of L leptophvlla and it may be re~lised further to read I. leptophvlla var. sichuanensis. Vve did find enough to mak~ a full distribution and even found soine color variat.i()tl in the flo,,vers to include a paler iorm and a reddish purple form. It is remarkable ho~;\7 similar the flower is in color, shape and size to I. tedorum from a distance., tut this species has a distinct beard. E. ( i) Iris narcissifiora - Tliis was my major goal in Sichuan and I had v,1ritten to Prof Yen earlier that I hoped especially to get this Iris. He had arranged four excursions with this species in mind. In Wolong we did not find it, Vle were blocked from getting to Song Pan and on the way to Mt Niba we again ca.me to a road blocked by a massive landslide. Three earth-moving machines were in ·residence· and vve were told of a tv\10 to three day delay! We were 'I/vi.thin sight of the peak of Mt. Niba, 2 065 m. above. Another disappointment seemed looming. Prof Yen is not without influence however and after an hour's delay and some fast talking an Army 'jeep· was accomodated complete ,mth military driver. We transferred our supplies from the Nissan Range Rover to the Beijing Jeepu an(i left the student, Mr. Zhou, on the V\7!"ong side of the earth heap to ~rratch the truck. Two hours of rough road later we made it to the peak only to discover it 'v\la.s now almost a ll cultivated in potatoes instead of the alpine meado~N last seen by Yen and Yang. Long detailed searches brought up some definite Acorus sp. but eventually T,Ne found vthat T"'.re believed were Iris - few and far between. The peasant farmer came over and said that he knew the plant and it had yellow flovlers, but then he poin¼d to Hemerocallis flava ! We dug as many as we could find hidden in scrubs of Rhodendendron, Corylus and Rosa omiensis . Within a iev, days many had bloomed- Acorus alas! Hopefully some \.\Till prove to be the elusive narcissiflora. E.(2) Iris narcissiflora - Tlle fourth journey for this species was no more inspiring. Another major landslide and road repair- if we waited two 11ours the road v?ould open one way only for five 11ours, tl1en reverse for five hours. We 1:p,aited and lunched. What followed vvas the worst road and ride of my life t•.) the peak of Mt. Erlang at almost 3,000 meters. This mountain is locatJ?.d about 100 km V-lest of Yaan tovv"ards t.~e border. We got out into near freezing weather, the ground vvas littered ·with all manner oi Tibetan Prayer papers throv,m to the ~A7inds and U1e scrubby bamboo Gelidocalmus fangianus covered the available space. Vve drove over the edge and do,,m to the Tibetan side towarcl the tov,ms of Lu.ding ancl Kancling. The latter is the 1555 -- continued collection site for the only confirmed herbarium material of this species, but it ~,:r-::,,::, tAt~11u ,,1,-,,::-c,,-l tA tt",f'C>1iYt"I ~yi,:-jt,,,y,:- ~~re 1"\·At tJ.'.) the h-::1p·i~f'-:' at th~ ~t1f'! Of .1 1-· Y \"4...A,J "./-./\AJ.J.J.l ...,.a,•.,,,/•,J \., ....+ ,,.,v .1,•..-· .1. ·... ,1.0.1,..1. Y.&.-.J.1.•... -. _.·4,_• . '' ... ;;:.... ~ •.,. ,.,. WJ. ...,,.._ • • J...... ,I ...... LJ.v vJ. .... the one way road- - if we went on we'd tiave to 'Nait again for our section to become one v..ray in the right direction, or v..re could head back the 1Nrong \1ra.y and stop to collect what we could. vVe chose tlle latter and after a dozen stops up and dovv1n ti1e peak we found a single plant or Iris narcissiflora OR i-,.corus sp. Still eluding me to the very ends of the earth. I can only hope that some plant of all those I collected ~Alill prove to be an Iris and hopefully the real I. narcissiflora. (Last fa.11 Prof. Yang v,,,as part of a collecting trip to the Tibetan plateau and she collected a fow seeds <>f a small yellow flov11ered Iris. Ho·wever she did not see the plant in flower. I narcissiflora has never been kno~Nn from Tibet, but she tllinks this may be the identification. I '-Nas given one of these seedlings last December by Prof Yen v.m.en he visited ti1e US for 3. "Nheat Genetics meeting and it mrives, but is too young t.o t1ave l)loomed. ~Nho knoV>lS, it may be the real thing at last!) On the journey to and from Kanding we passed through a small forest ..-..f n..-..,,,., 'T'.-i=:,,-,r- {r,,.,,T.,-l,::l TT,-,,1,l".,...,t~ \ ..... f,,11 1--1oom T,nr- ~ AnTT •.• >J.L"-.>\'<:'J.1v'v0\.LIO.YJ.< .. HC!. 1· ....HYVJ. ... \,J.CH,c.t/HJ.J.'--U11J1< . Th1·,...1 :::,yy,:.,.:::, c•u1·te:,1 <::<.~-:> "t.gh+- \,./:'J.lJ of you ~Nith a knov,rledge of plant collecting in China know the special and !ntriguing story of the first collections of t.llis still rare tree. It occurred in a very limited ri3.nge at only a narrc>w range of a.ltitude and out of bloom would be totally hidden in the lush for est of firs and Rhodendendrons. F. Iris sp. - This was given to me by Prof. Yang. She collected it in 19&6 at Hong Yuan in NW Sichuan at an altitude of 3400 m in an alpine meadov-.r. It blooms there in July. It Vv"as grov?ing at the Research Institute in Guan Xian and bloomed there for the first time in 1988. There v,,,as a single purple flower on each stem. It is clearly a 'siberian" species and possibly from the 40 chromosome section. This v.. ras a division from the single collected plant and v,,,as divided into only a few small pieces for distribution to CIP sponsors. G. - This was only found at slightly high(1r elevations in southwest Sichuan. The common color form was light blue/violet Vvith yellow signal marks. Prof. Yen says it is also found in a v.lhite form, but I saw none in my travels. Plants were collected at 17&0 m on Mt. Niba in S.V•l. Sichuan. According to Prof. Yang it can get 150 cm in height and usually does not bloom e-v~ry year. There are herbarium sheet.s Vvith numerous seed pods, :3.lthough they h3.VE:l' rn.rely SE:l'en pods develop. My impression V-la.s that this is a distinct Iris in many respect of anatomy., form and distribution. There are also many similarities to Ljaponica. Prof. Yen has suggested that its is just a form of I. japonica basecl on cytological examinations. Clearly there is mtKli research needed to clarify the biology of ti1ese tvvo species. Field \.1,rork in Sichuan and may yield fertile diploid races of both as well as other v·ariati

Late breaking news Reports from sponsors have been encouraging. The follo,qing species Tvvill surely be established: L speculatrix, L ventricosa. L tigridia, P. (L) dichotoma, L japonica pallescens, L flavissima. 1 tectorum and 1 confusa: while the next group have been uneven but some are growing in some locations: 1- angu.ifuga, L tenu.ifolia, 1- 1actea chinensis. L sichuanensis. and L. sp (siberian), and th.e- following seem not established and lost at least temporarily: L uniflora L mandshu.rica, and I. proantha valida Vlhile L narcissiflora remains a question mark -v.litll some plants gro"\

Iris a11g11if11ga Y. T. Zhao J. plant 2. stamen J. style 4. fruit with spa1he 1559

THI!: GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF IRIS IN CHINA BY YU-TANG ZHAO

Depurlmt!ll/ uf Biolugy, Nurtht!as1em Teachers' U11iversi1y, People's Republic uf China THE genus Iris L: is widespread in the continents of Europe, Asia and Norlh America. China is situated in the c=astern part of Asia, in the northern temperate zone, and has a vast territory and a vari ed topography; it abounds in wild Iris species. Many of its Iris species, such as Iris tt'c­ torum, /. bullt:')'Gna, I. forrestii, I. ensaw (/. kaempferi), I. sa11guinea (I. orienwlis, /. 11ertschi11skia), I. chrysogmplws, occupy an important position in world horticulture. Horticulturists antl taxonomists all over the world have long been interested in Chinese I rises, but little was known about their ecology, variation, distribution, etc. As says (of /. co11f11s") "The spc=cies . . . , but its exact distribution is not known and one hopes that Chinese botanists will soon throw some li ght on this and its relatives." Our present field work of collecting specimens is a great advancement but is still far from enough, and undoubtedly more species are yet to be discovered, and some of the distribution patterns enlarged. The present author, in his forthcoming account of Iris for the FLORA OF CHINA, recognises 55 species, 14 varieties and 4 forms. This is, of course, only the first step, and more research is to be done in the future. Irises prefer a mild climate and the distribution of the genus in China is, therefore, mostly concentrated in the following four regions: I. Southwestern region: including the provinces of Yunnan, and Sichuan, and the Xizang (Tibet) a utonomous region. Here the species amount to 27, with Sichuan topping the list, totalling about 23. The main species are: /. b11llt!yana, I. chrysographes, I. t!elavayi, I. clarkii, /. poly­ slicta, I. collellii, I. decora, I. subdichotoma, /. conf11sa, I. wauii, /. lari­ sryla, I. milesii, I. sidwanensis, I. lt'ptoph)'lla, I. narcissiflora, /. goniocarpa, /. kamaonensis, etc. Although this region is at a low latitude, the climate is not too scorch­ ing, because of its high elevation, especially in Xizang (Tibet), which is called "the roof of the world", and in the plateaux of Yunnan and Guizhou, where spring-like weather occurs through much of the year. In Zhongdiai:i county, Yunnan province, where the three provinces, Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou, meet at the upper bank of Jinsha River, a new species has been discovered, /. subdichoroma Y. T. Zhao. It is very much like /. clid,otoma, which is widespread in North China, but the leaves of the former are not shaped like a sickle, its inflorescence is much less branched, and its tube is much longer (about 3 cm). This species belongs to Subgen. Pardanthopsis ( Hance) Baker, which tax­ onomists previously considered to consist of only one species. I. decora and /. collellii belong to Subgen. Nepalensis (Dykes) Lawr., both typically Himalayan elements; they are common species in , Burma and Nepal, and in this region of China but cannot be found anywhere else in the country. Tht!re are also in this region /. conf11Sa and I. wa11ii, which were formerly confused with each other until Sealy dis­ covered that the: farmer's flowers are much smaller than the latter's. (Copied f rom BIS YF.AR BOCK 1982) 15 60 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF IRIS IN CHINA

U')- i r I

.. i I• H H . ( I H I H I :tI ··:···._'':·} . • : --~-.-.. l I •• -- .continued 1561

/. narcissiflora has yellow flowers. much like the Narcissus; it is distributed in the western mountains of Sichuan. /. clarkii is widespread on lakcsidcs or in shallow pools in Xizang (Tibet). 2. Northwestern region: including the provinces of . and , and and autonomous regions. Here the species amount to 21, Shaanxi topping the list with about 16. The main species are as follows: /. w;/sonii, I. loc=_i·i. I. so11garh·a, I. bloudo,rii, I . .rcariosa, /. pandurata, I. qi11ghainica, I. po1ani11ii, I. tenuifolia. I. cun•ifolia etc. !. qinghainica is similar to !. loczyi, but the former's flowers are com­ paratively small, about 4.5 cm diameter, and its perianth segments are much narrower than the latter's. Jt grows on the slopes and sunny grass­ lands of the plateaux, 2500 m above sea level: its type specimens were collected from the lakesioe of the Qinghai Lake. /. pota11i11ii has yellow or violet flowers, but both variants have the same characteristics and occur together in Gansu. Qinghai and Xizang. According to the original descrip­ tion, typical flowers of this species are yellow; the author identifies the violet flowered version as a new variety, and has named it /. pota11i11ii var. ionantlta Y. T. Zhao. /. pa11durata, which has been mistakenly regarded as a synonym of /. tigri<(ia, usually has two flowers on each scape; it is distributed in Gansu and Qinghai, a rather limited distribution. /. tigriclia, on the other hand, has only one flower on most scapes and is widespread in the western region of N.E. China, and in N. China and Inner Mon­ golia. /. curvifolia is similar to /. bloudowii, but its leaves are sickle-like; its type specimens were collected from Xinjiang. 3. Northeastern region: including the provinces of , Jilin and , and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Herc the species amount to 19, with Liaoning topping the list with a total of about 16. The main species are as follows: /. sa11gui11ea (I. orientalis. I. nertscl,inskia), I. ensata (!. kaempferi), I. typhifolia, I. lae1•igata, I. maackii, I. minutoaurea, I . kobayashii, /. vemricosa, I. mands/111rica, I. bungei etc. I. ensata, I. sanguinea and l. laevigata are all well-known species in horticulture. They all grow in large numbers in marshlands. /. t_rphifolia belongs to Series Sibiricae (Diets) Lawr. Its leaves are narrow (about 2 mm wide) with a very prominent midnerve and its flowers are

Taiwan, and autonomous region. Here the main species are:­ /. a11g11iji1ga, /. proantlw, I. proantlw var. valida, I. spec11/a1rix, /. he11ryi, /. rn//wyensis, J. japo11irn, /. 1ec1oru111, I. sa11g11i11ea var. jixi11ge11sis, etc. I . u11g11ifuga, which is a Chinese herb used by local people to cure snake bites, has only one spathe to each flower, and the fruit has three corners wi th a long rostrum at th!! top. The author considers it to belong to a new section, namely Sect. Ophioiris Y. T. Zhao, which in turn belo ngs to Subgen. Limniris Tausch. /. speculatrix is a species which can endure hot summers, and is widespread over the level ground south of the Tropic of Cancer; its typical specimens were collected in Hong Kong. T he author considers that / . grijsii is the same; this was collected in Fujian Province and the.all'eged distinction between the two perhaps came about because the crests on the outer perianth segments of the latter cannot be observed when the fl owers are dried. Tn the original description o f /. proa11 1ha, Diels said that there were no crests on its fl owers, and that it should belong to Sect. Apogon (Subgen. Limniris). Jn fact, there are crests o n the flowers and the species belongs to the Sect. Evansia (Subgcn. Crossiris). Chong-shu Chien, a Chinese botanist, described this species agai n in 1931 as /. psewlorossii. The author considers that although there were some misrakes in Diels's article, it was an effective publication and the name therefore takes priority. There is a variety, var. valida Chien (described under /. pseudorossii, which I have now classified under I . proantha, as /. proamha Di els var. vaiida Y. T. Zhao. /. carhayensis is distributed in Jiangsu and Provinces, but is very rare now. /. sanguinea Donn var. jixingensis Y. T. Zhao at one time grew on the banks of the Taihu Lake but si nce many botanists have recently failed to find specimens its name may perhaps have to be listed among the extinct plants. As far as I know, in spite of the extinction (or probable near-ex tinction) of many Irises, /. lactea var. chinensis has great vitality a nd its populations are increasing gradually in pasturelund, where the livestock seldom graze it, except in winter. Its abundance may be considered as a sign of pasture­ land degeneration. This species grows in most parts of China, with the exception of several southern provinces. It is also widespread in the USSR, , Mongolia, , and India, but it does not grow in Japan. Most Irises have limited regions of distribution, and some species are distributed in very narrow zones. /. setosa, however, is an exception. It is of Pan-Arctic composition and grows on the northern slopes of the Changbai Mountains of China, with an elevation of 600-1000 m. A common species in Asia and America, it stretches from the Changbai Mountains, its demarcation line in the south, eastward to Korea and Japan, and northward to east , Kamtschatca, the Aleutian Islands, over the Bering Straits to Alaska, Canada, Labrador and Newfoundland. ***************** 1563 IRIS RESEARCH IN CHINA

by j,un~e W.Wadd.io.k

While visiting with Professor Zhao Yu-Tang at North East Normal University in Changchun, Jilin Province, China in May, I was given a couple of his reprints concerning w research in China. I would like to share these finding with the readers of the SIGNA Newsletter. English summaries and comments on each report are given in the hope that this information will be of interest.

Karyotype Studies of Three Species of Genus Iris in China by Zhao Yu­ Tang and Lu Jing-Mei. Journal of the Northeast Normal University 1986 2 (2): 71-78. This paper deals with chromosome numbers and morphology of three species of Genus .lr.i..s. in China, those are: Iris mandshurica Maxim.; L uniflora Pall. and I. blouwdowii Ladeb. The karyotype analysis of those three species are all reported for the first time, the karyotype formula of those species are: Iris mandshurica Maxim. 2n-14 - l 4M: L uniflora Pall. 2n- 40-34M +4 SM +2 ST; L bloudowii Ledeb. 2n=- 26- 6M +18 SM+ 2 ST. The chromosome number of Iris uniflora Pall. 2n = 40 is reported for the first time, too, and the chromosome number of Iris mandshurica Maxim. 2n= 14 is different from the reported 2n = 34 (Simonet 1928, 1932) and 2n = 20 (Longley). (There are microphotographs of chromsomes of all species discussed and a short bibliography of related materials)

Studies on the Pollen Morphology of the Genus Iris in China by Qi Yao­ Bin and Zhao Yu-Tang. Acta Phytotaxonomica Sinica 1987 25( 6) : 430 - 436 plus five pages of plates. In this paper, pollen grains of 32 species of the genus ~ in China were examined under light microscope and scanning electron microscope. Pollen grains in~ of China are navicular or subspheroidal. According to the characters of aperture and shape, pollen grains may be divided into four types: ( 1) Monocolpate (distal): pollen grains navicular or subspheroida1, exine reticulate. (2) Monocolpate-colpoidal: pollen grains subspheroidal, exine pilate. (3) 2-syncolpate: pollen grains subspheroidal or navicular, exine reticulate. ( 4) No aperature; pollen grains subspheroidal; exine verrucate. The evolutionary trends of aperture and exine ornamentation are traced and systematic positions of some species are discussed based on characteristics of pollen grains and other organs. (Excellent microphotographs show whole pollen grains and closeups of the surfaces and apertures of many Chinese species. A three page chart compares all characterisitics of the thirty two species discussed and provides the basis for comparisons of both common and rare species.)

(Note: Iris mandshurica Maxim is the spelling used by Zhao consistently. It is the same plant spelled I. mandsChurica in Mathew's and Kohlein's books.) 1564 SUCCESS WITH NATIVE IRIS IN FLORIDA GARDENS Wyndham Hayward, Florida The following material is reprinted fr om Madison Cooper's Gardening Magazine, Vol. 2 No. 6, June 1938, pp. 153-154. The iris picture in Florida gardens, particularly in the peninsular part of the state, is interesting mainly because of what is not knm-m, and the possibilities for 11 exploration and introduction" of new things, not to speak of the utilization of present resources. Probably there is no state in the Union where Iris as a genus of horticultural plants, is more overlooked and neglected than in Florida. This is due to sever a 1 reasons, perhaps the foremost being the fact that the state is sti 11 in the pioneer or formative stage horti culturally, especially in the development of carefully-planned gardens. It is evident at the start that with the Florida climate, one must work with a different metier than in the ordinary northern iris garden. Here, apparently, the staples of German, Japanese, and Siberian Iris, and a number of allied types are useless. This is a great surprise and discouragement to the beginner with lri s in the state. His wonderful and expensive Sass and Salbach varieties do nothing--barely exist. I have a plant of Santa Barbara that is four years old and has never produced a leaf six inches tall, much less a bloom . There have been reports of some success with Japanese Iris in ~arts of the state, but they have never done much with me, remaining dormant a full year for the most part, and then putting up a few 1ong, slender 1eaves but no flowers. However, this type seems more promising than the German. Perhaps under the right conditions we might be able to induce them to bloom. However, the more cheerful side of the picture is that the Dutch Iris, and some other bulbous types, perform wonderfully in medium rich soi 1s, over the peninsula, at least the first season, and sometimes the bulbs can be multipl ied and carried along with worth-while increase. I have won first prize for Iris, for two years, at the Central Florida Exposition at Orlando, Florida, in February , with blooms from WEDGEWOOD bulbs obtained originally in 1934 from a New York wholesale house. As mentioned, these bulbous Iris demand a rich, medium-heavy soil, as they contract the root-knot nematode in higher sandy locations, and this soon spoils the bulbs completely. The bulbous Iris are also affected with a Sclerotia fungus in wet l ocations, where the drainage is not adequate, and a rust has been known to attack them in close plantings. Otherwise they do very well, and prove a most useful cut flower i tern in the sub-tropical winter months. WEDGEWOOD variety will bloom in January and February, and S. ROMBOUT and A. BLOEMARD in late February and March . The other varieties come into flower in March and April. By the first of May or the middle of May the bulbs are ready to dig. If left in the ground until the rains start in June, serious losses from decay may be experienced. 1565 The second group of Iris species and varieties which are quite at home in Florida, are the central southern types, particularly the new and colorful Louisiana Iris . Iris fulva, in many shades, does extremely well in rich, well-drained soil, the writer having grown a row some 60 feet in length for several seasons, which was a gorgeous coppery show when in full bloom last spring. The other Louisiana species, such as I. giganticoerulea and vinicolor* like simi lar conditions. It should be stated that for the successful culture of these iris in Florida, a pool, lake, or stream bank is almost necessary, unless one has a piece of rich hammock land available. On high sandy land , such as most of the city and town sites, they require the laborious preparation of muck beds of considerable proportions, and endless watering, to do anything; and even then are not at their best. When planted on raised beds of black hammock or peaty lakeside soil, they increase and bloom thriftily. Th e start of this flowering season is in 1ate February and continues through May . These Irises have proved very susceptible to root-knot nematode infestation in Florida, and care should be taken to avoid the pest in planning an iris planting. New land is best and set apart from sandy loam garden soil in the vicinity which is likely to wash down in heavy rains. The writer has never used commercial fertilizer on these Louisiana Iris in Florida, but presumes it might be beneficial. The rich soil of present plantings has proved perfectly satisfactory to date. The third principal group comprises the southeastern group of southern iris species and varieties; the native Florida, Georgia and Alabama types . Practically all of these do well in rich soil under garden cultivation. The writer has gathered many rhizomes of the common Iris savannarum** of the "prairies II and fl atwoods, and has grown them from seeds , with many interesting results. They will flower in two years, with good culture, from seed. Colors ranging from pure white to deepest navy blue, and occasional sports into the yellow tones, may be found in spring in central Florida and south, by the ambitious iris hunter. The spec ies I. savannarum ranges for acres and acres, without exaggeration, in some areas. At times, as near Lake Poinsett in southeastern Orange County, the flowers form a solid sheet of blue for many hundreds of yards along the shores. The most spectacular show of Iris ever noted by the writer in Florida was in May" 1937, at the Cypress Gardens, Winter Haven, Florida, a commercial development of recent years, where a plot of Iris tri~etala, native of northern Florida and south Georgia, was in full bloom.he flowers were a glowing violet-purple, and shone in the sunlight like a battery of kleig 1i ghts across the adjacent pools. These were collected farther north, I understand, near Jacksonvi ll e, by Professor E. L. Lord of Orlando, and his son , R. P. Lord. Professor Lord, as his friends know, and Dr. H. H. Hume of Gainesville, are probably the two outstanding iris specialists in the state, their interests being mainly directed toward the natural species and varieties of the native types. There are doubtless many other types and varieties of the extensive genus which are suitable for culture in the gardens of the "Land of Sunshine . 11 I 1566 NATIVE IRIS IN FLORIDA GARDENS -- continued hope so, and firmly believe it, and have under trial several additional kinds at the present time, both rhizomatous and bulbo us species .

(A photograph of southern native iris species, grown in Mr. Hayward's garden in Winter Park, Florida, accompanies the article.)

* 11 Vinicolor" is no longer a recognized species but probably a natural hybrid. See Roy Davidson ' s note under Editor's Mailbag, Page 1470, Fall 1988 SIGNA.

**We need someone to tell us what species 11 savannarum" might have been relegated to-- I. hexagona perhaps? Mathew's IRIS, THE WORLD OF IRIS and THE LOUISIANA IRIS make no mention of this iris. It is undoubtedly one of Small 1s species that is no longer recognized .

************ ROBIN NOTES FROM FLORIDA KEN POMAR, St. August i ne, FL •.• Having stated that all the iris grow in North Florida except bearded, now I have to renege on that. The siberians do grow but don't bloom . California hybrid and species seem to find our humidity and heat in July and August unbearab 1e (as do I) . They have a 11 succumbed. The Iris Purdyi seedlings grew to about 4" and died in July. The Japanese I have had for five or six years grow exceedingly well but apparently only bloom after our colder winters . The winters of '85 and 186 I had best bloom and they were frigid (for us)--low of 12 degrees F. with three days of 33 degr ees for a high-- very unusual for here . Spurias seem to do fairly well here. I was told by an Oregon Spuria grower (who refused me a catalog) that Spurias seem to need more cold weather than we receive . But I I ve discovered that they need a hot surm,er to ripen and not an especially cold winter. My Pseudacorus-Japanese cross, 1Aichi - no-kagayaki, 1 which I received this spring is proliferating but no bloom. I was hoping to infuse some yellow into my Japanese (Kaempferi) Iris. Considering none of the Kaempferi bloomed this year, I'm not too surprised.

************ FLORENCE'S MA ILBOX JEAN QUICK, Davenport, FL ••• I do enjoy SIGNA, although I have not used the seed exchange yet, I intend to start next year. I have been trying my darned best to grow tall bearded and Japanese here in FL. I ' ve had limited success and surprising results! Yesterday I decided to get my Japanese int o a pool. They don't like the heat! I do have all the native iris that grow here and all the irids I could find, too, but I 1m really just settling in so have not used the seed program as yet. Been too busy (President Florida Iris Society and Florida Master Gardener) to do much seed growing. 1567 FINAL REPORT ON IRIS PLANTINGS AT LEU GARDENS A division of Parks and Recreation -- City of Orlando, Florida

by Mary Kutz, Horticultural Specialist/Botanist February 7, 1989

KINDS AND COUNTS: Forty-two I. tectorum, five speci es native to Northeast North America, five Japanese cultivars , eight siberian cultivars, 47 different Louisiana cultivars , 37 different bearded kinds and cultivars (many cultivars were represented by several plants) . All were from donations made mostly by mail in 1986 and 1987. PROCEDURES: A11 were potted when received and kept in the nursery for three to seven months, longer than we had planned to hold them. They were in partial sun, were watered twice a week, and either not fertilized or very lightly fertilized. In April of 1987 all were planted in different areas of the high-maintenance Annual Garden. All the tectorums went to a small full sun area with a 1 ight, somewhat acid soil and no mulch . t-bst of the Louisianas were planted in a shady bed with rich, heavy soil , neutral to slightly acid, with a light leaf mulch . All the bearded, the species , and some Louisianas were planted together in a large display bed with popular annuals and perennials in a sunny area which was shaded in the early morning and late afternoon. The soi 1 there was 1ight and dry, somewhat acid, and had no mulch. In Florida, soils differ quite a lot, but in the central area of the state, alkaline soil is not usually the problem it is in southern Florida. The weather in central Florida is usually like this: very hot and rainy sunmer, warm wet fall, warm dry winter, warm dry spring. Even in the week that a frost may occur , the high can still reach a balmy 70°-80° F. This is the exact opposite of weather in the western United States, where the winter is cold and rainy, etc. RESULTS: All the Siberian and Japanese cultivars died within the first year . Many of the Japanese died while in nursery. The foliage always looked healthy and pest-free but the roots and rhizomes just rotted off. The nursery potting soil may have retained too much water. The tectorums, when planted, looked very good and quickly filled out but they have never set buds . Of the beardeds, one-third died within the year and the living ones have a few weak leaves and do not bloom . (Only two , GOLDEN ENCORE and TWICE BLESSED ever made a flower or two one time in September 1987. The species that lived have not grown nor bloomed. All of the Irises that were in the large display bed were moved in 1988 to the more shady Perennial Circle, which has a heavier, richer soil, neutral to slightly acid. No improvement. All the Louisianas, regardless of area grown in, have bloomed and grown every year. They also bloomed in the nursery. Only the Louisianas are recommended for culture in central Florida. OTHER IRISES AND FAMILY RELATIVES RECOMMENDED Any native blue flag, yellow flag = pseudacorus does very \-1ell, Belamcanda chinensis, African Irises = Dietes spp ., Walking Iris = Neomar1ca longifol ia. ************ 1568

IRIS TRIDENTATA John Wood Mooresboro, NC I. tridentata is the least known of the series Tripetalae which consist of the three species irises: I. setosa, I. setosa can ad ens is (I. hookeri) and I. tridentata. The name, tridentata is derived from the word tridentate which means having three teeth, prongs, or points. This is a very fitting name in that the flower has three suborbicular falls and virtually no standards. Why this plant has been so elusive for so many years is pure speculation on my part; however, there are facts that will point out the reasons to some extent. Pursh, in 1814, stated that I. tridentata was narrowly endemic to the Carolinas and Florida swamps. There is also an indication of a migration via the Asian-American land bridge to southeastern United States. If that migration really did happen, then there surely would have been some pl ants left along the way especially in the Aleutian Chain, Alaska, Canada and the northeastern United States as was the case with I. hookeri and I. setosa canadensis.

I. tri dentata is very much 1 i ke the American forms of I. setosa which we know as I. hookeri or I. setosa canadensi s. I tri dentata d 1ff ers from I. setosa however, in having linear leaves, conspicuously unequal green spathe valves of a thick rigid texture, a rounder, less triangular capsule, disc shaped seeds, much shorter standards and in flowering about a month later than I. setosa. I find the following quo tat ion from Dykes in The Genus Iris to be very interesting: 11 It is not at present possibl e to separate and define the various forms of this iris that are already known to us. It was first found by Pallas in Siberia and extends to the extreme northeast corner of Asia. From there it passes into Alaska and finally reappears again on the east coast of Canada and Maine. Under the names of I. setosa, setosa canadens is, hookeri and trident a ta, I have found growing in gardens at least six forms of this iris . What is more curious is that each form when self-fertilized comes practically true from seed." Based on Dykes information I would not be surprised if I. tridentata came into being with Mother Nature 1 s help via I. setosa crosses. This being true would help to account for its narrow endemic range in the Carolinas and Florida swamps. I think I. tridentata was lost and out of circulation for a very long time due to the fact that it is apparently narrowly endemic to Carolinas and Florida swamps, lack of interest and not knowing really what the plant is for virtually nothing has been written about it. Jean Witt mentioned I. tridentata to me several years ago and told me that it probably grew along streams in the coastal plains of the Carolinas and that it bloomed in July. Over the years I searched areas of the coastal plain to no avail. Had I done my searching the latter part of May and the first of June I am sure I would have found the plant much earlier.

In the latter part of May in 1980 while attending a Japanese Iris show in the low country of South Carolina, a lady brought a tub which contained 1569 water and in it were what she called native irises . The blooms were quite wilted but being a species buff I brought two of the plants home with me to the foothills of North Carolina. The plants were planted in one gallon nursery cans and were given copious amounts of \>later during the summer. The plants wintered over outside in the nursery cans and went dormant in the fall. When new growth put out in the spring of 1981 I noticed that the plant foliage was the same as a plant of I. tridentata that I had purchased from Lorena Reid of Laurie's Garden in Spri ngfield, Oregon. Neither of these plants bloomed i n the spring of 1981 nor was there any increase while in the nursery cans. In May of 1981 I obtained additional plants from the low country of South Carolina and these were planted at the edge of a pond. The two plants previously obtained were planted in the yard with siberian 1r1ses. Most of these plants bloomed in the spring of 1982. Most of the plants that bloomed were a dark purple but there were two in the group that were a much lighter color with purple veining. Each of t hese plants put out two additional plants that emerged in a lateral fashion eight to ten inches from the parent plant in much the same way that the Evansia, NADA , does. The microclimate where these plants were growing in the wild was very wet and though frost occurs, the ground is seldom, if ever, frozen. The water table is very near the surface and the plants usually have plenty of moisture. The summers are quite hot and humid and the plants were thriving in semi to deep shade. None were growing in fully exposed sun areas. The plants set seed readily in the wild but did no t set seed for me unless I pollinated them by hand, until they became acclimatized. I have been able to supply I. tridentata seed to The SIGNA Seed Exchange now for about four years and am very anxious to learn how the plants are responding in other areas of the United States as well as abroad. My plants have survived temperatures of -7° F. but I do not cut the foliage back in the fall leaving it as a mulch. I think I. tri dentata deserves a special p 1ac e in the species garden, or any garden that can accommodate its requirements. If you can grow Siberian or Japanese irises, then apparently I. tridentata would grow for you under the same conditions. I might add at this point that I. tridentata blooms for me at the same time the Japanese iris bloom. This fact has always interested me and just recently while researching data on Japanese Iris it was most interesting to read the following from THE GENUS IRIS by William Rickatson Dykes. 11 The origin of the many Japanese garden forms of this Iris has never been disc 1osed. . . the Japanese seem to have aimed at increase· in the size of the falls and decrease in the standards. It seems not impossible that in the early stages I. kaempferi may with this end in view have been crossed with I. setosa which is also a native of Japan and in which the standards are reduced to mere bristles, while the falls are often very large. I cannot bring any evidence in support of this suggestion except its obvious plausiability. 11 If I. tridentata really is a variant of I. setosa crosses, then Dykes just might have been right when he thought t hat the Japanese might have used I. setosa in breeding their Japanese lri s. I have found at times plant and flower descriptions to be quite elusive and I do not want this to be the case with I. tridentata. The root- stock of 1 5 70 IRIS TRIDENTATA -- continued I. tri dentata is a very slender rhizome of a widely creeping, somewhat stoloniferous character. The leaves are finely ribbed and light green with a red edge and become linear on the stem about the time the fl ower opens. The stem is eighteen to twenty inches tall, dark in color with several reduced leaves on the terminal which contains two buds . The second bud opens three to four days after the first one . The f lowers remain good for t ~-1 0 to three days . One lateral branch exists with only one bud flowering t here. The spathes are narrow, pointed and unequal . The outer is usually l e ss than half the length of the inner valve. The is triangular and t he t ube funnel shaped. The falls are suborbicular and a bluish- purple with conspicuous veini ng. The lighter ones are very heavily veined . The si·gnal is white with yellow in the center. The hafts are yellow-brown with reticulations. Standards are almost non-existant. One must search to find t hem as they appear the second day the f 1ower is open and then they are about one-eighth of an inch long and toothed . The is semi -circular in outline. The anther is bluish in color with yellow pollen. I have detected no aroma coming from any of the flowers. Apparently different characteristics occur in other parts of the country and I quote from a letter of Elaine Hulbert: "I was able to keep a clump of tridentata alive for years , but neve r saw a f lower until seedlings from your crop bloomed in 1986 and again last summer. So far I hav e never seen a sign of standards , not even a bristle but of course I have not yet bloomed many individuals. Have you seen any va r iation in this character? Also, I wonder if you have fo und two distinct scents in the same flower? a rather sweet apricot-i sh scent when the flower is new and a very foul one (like cat-briar) wh en it ages." I. tridentata has given me much joy and satisfaction , growing an d blooming amid the many other beardless irises in my garden and also being able to share through the SIGNA seed exchange . ************

ROY'S MAILBOX Recently have come enquiries from two researchers looking for breeding material for very special projects, neither of wh ich I was able to help with, if any of the member s have the more unusual of the Junos Al an McMurtrie I would 1 ike to know abo ut it . If you have any of the tender Asiatic Evansias or their hybrids, Darrell R. Probst would like to be in touch . His address is 63 Williamsville Rd ., Hubbardston MA 01452 . Alan's address i s inside the front cover. Darrell ha s been carrying along a project that amounts to perpetuating the original strain of Pardancanda as raised by Sam Norris. See SI GNA way back on p. 265 where the illustrations (from AllSO) clearly show what Sam had in mind. The strain offered by Parks are not iris-flowered and only amount to multicolored blackberry lilies. ************ 1571 SPECIES IRIS/LONDON AND AMSTERDAM by Joan N. Cooper

This spring I fulfi lled a lifelong dream or , at lea st, a part thereof . Since our t ime was severely limited, my cousin and I decided to concentrate on ~rn sterdam and London rather than try to see very much of Holland a nd England in nine days. But, of course, high on our agenda were flowers and gardens. { Elaine Hulbert has twisted my arm to r ecount our trip for SIGNA since I printed her account of the Iris trip to Australia and New Zealand.) I had n't realized that this would be so much a species Iris trip--the English, as we have often heard, g r ow so many more species iris than we do in the U. S .

We flew into Amsterdam on May 5 where we stayed at a small period-piece hotel call ed The Owl from which we walked, bussed and boated to many points of interest--the Royal Palace, Darn Square , Centraal Station, the shopping district , flower markets, canal trips, Rembrandt House, etc. Amsterdam with its ancient buildings , carefully maintained , street performers and network of canals must certainly be one of the world ' s most picturesque cities.

We made an excursion by bus { probably not the best way to get there) to the Aalsmeer Flower Auction. Unbelievable! The largest flower auction in the world, the building is the size of 90 football f ields . Five auction rooms, with thirteen auction clocks , seat up to 300 buyers each. Over 4700 growers supply the plants and cut flowers for the m to buy . The Dutch auction system is used with the clock turning backward . The operation is completely computerized with invoices, plants, etc. quickly assembled for shipment to t he buyer or loading into his own vehicle right there in the building .

Returning from Aalsmeer we discovered the Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam's small but delightful botanical garden . And our first irises--well grown specimen clumps of Irises ge rmanica, pallida and florentina growing midst the lovely azaleas, wisteria, etc.

Then by train to "the Hook" where we took the ferry to Harwick, England . From the train we saw the tulip fields of many colors, piled up flower heads of red and yellow, fa r m homes , dairy cattle and even a couple of windmills . A really flat land , with rail beds raised above , one could see for great distances .

We arrived in London after dark where we checked into a small bed and breakfast hotel called The Lonsdale where I suffered a real panic attack realizing the reservations were in my cousin ' s name and that communications from my English SIGNA friends could have been returned . In the morning I found my panic was premature with a delightful note from Tony Hall offering to meet us at the tube station the next morning for a personal i ntroduction to Kew Gardens. If you ever get to Kew, be sure to look him up at the Alpine House--a sheer delight to k now him. 1572 SPECIES IRIS/LONDON & AMSTERDAM Our charming host led us in to the s ti 11-c losed pulm house, a truly beautiful conservatory, across the pond from which was a luxurious stand of I. pseudacorus flanked by lush tropical looking foliage, the name of which I have forgotten. Then on to the woodland garden, being j ntroduced to ancient and rare trees along the way, where we found blooming ·clumps of Irises douglasiana, tenax, setosa alba , sanguinea alba, missouriensis from Mexico!, lactea from Pakistan, sanguinea Nertschinskia from Korea and a mystery PCN which Tony has more recently identified as a natural hybrid of Ii. tenax and douglasiana, and a most impressive clump of foliage of I. prismatica--I hadn't known it could have so much foliage--and another first for me--TOLLCNG.

From there to Tony's alpine yard, where he was justifiably proud of a pot of I. tenuis in full bloom! Here I also saw my first examples of Irises tingitana, cycloglossa, and kernerana, all in impressive clumps alongside I. pallida in the vicinity of the al pine house which is full of rare and exotic treasures. I' 11 not tell you about Tony's aril house as he has promised an article for SIGNA on his special methods of growing arils in England 's non aril environment--he had a magnificent bloom of I. paradoxa to prove it works--sadly though, someone had left it out in the sun and hot wind, most uncharacteristic weather, where the standards had taken an awful beating, but the falls, looking like snips of heavy velvet, were something to see.

At this point Tony had to catch up on some of his duties but before pointing us in several directions to see more wonders of Kew Gardens, he introduced us to Brian Mathew, author of THE IRIS, my frame of reference for SIGNA--a pleasure indeed to visit with him even briefly.

We preceded on through the Cambridge cottage garden, an area of pretty perennial beds and borders, which included Irises flavescens, siberica praecox, florentina, albicans Madonna, croa tic a, and neglecta. That ended our iris adventures at Kew, but lunch of steak and kidney pie and tea with maids-in-waiting pastries, both enjoyed with Tony, and the marvelous azaleas and rhododendrons, and the purse-snatching geese, would take too many pages of telling.

The next day we "did" London on a tour bus seeing all the tourist sights--Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, London Bridge, the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, etc. And then proceded to Kensington Palace and Gardens. On the fenced palace grounds was a fine large clump of I. laevigata, the first of many we would see. More beautiful azaleas and lovely beds backed by shrubs and called "Italian gardens" were very nice.

The next day, by bus to Windsor, where we scarcely took time to see the castle, though it's hard to miss. We took a taxi to Savill Gardens--it's no wonder the British enjoy their royalty so much--they provide such marvelous parks and gardens! Savill is a part of the Windsor Great Park. It is a naturalistic woodland garden with large trees, ponds and streams. Plants are not necessarily native, however, just planted in natural fashion . continued 1573 Azaleas we r e the b ig stars when we were there--huge ones in every color, mirrored in the many ponds. But mirrored also were clumps and masses of I. pseudacorus, variegated, double , 1 igh t yellow and every shade of gold, and I. laevigata in white, blue-violet , red-violet a nd shades between a s well as I. siberica and I . setosa, all looking their very best in naturalistic settings with primula japonica and English bluebells as well as azaleas . Some older Siberian cul ti vars, I . innominata, and I . missouriensis grew in a series of special beds such as the dry garden, perennial border , wall gar den and alpine garden. A wonderful garden of mini-climates and studied natural settings .

Another touristy day of shopping a t Covent Carden , waiting i n the ticket line at Leicester Square for theater tickets , watching street musicians and performers , even getting involved in one of the performances , a boat ride on the Thames and a n evening at the theater, and we were ready for more gardens.

Ann Blanco- White picked us up at o ur Hotel and bravely bucked the ghastly t raffic--the subways were on 24 hour stri ke--to take us to Wi sley , the garden of the Royal Horticultural Society. Here are formal gardens, walled gardens , perennial borders, model gardens, wild gardens , water gardens, fruit a nd vegetable gardens, hedge and ground cover demonstrations, ornamental grass es, alpine house and garden , and test gardens for all manner of garden plants including tall bearded and Siberian irises . Of interest were some of the PCN a nd Siberian cultivars originated in England .

Aga in the most conspicuous iris i n best bloom were I. pseudacorus and I. laevigata in many forms. I was especially impressed with a laevigata named Dorothy Robinson, a deep violet , well formed double flower, apparently not registered. -Does anyone know this plant? And I have almost forgotten to men tion the wonderf ul masses of I . laevigata variegata at Wisley.

And , as though she hadn ' t done enough for us already , Ann brought us to her home for supper with he r husband a nd son. They have a large garden on acreage in the south of England but the garden at their town house i n Hampstead was small but charming . It faces down to a lovely natural pond in back and picks up the natural quality . Among the iris blooming were several evansias and Siberian 40s .

Our biggest disappointment was to miss the Chelsea Flower Show by just o ne day! Well, it does give us an excuse to go back! As though we really needed one!

London is a wonderful city, easy to get around in--1 had read it has the best publ ic transportation in the world and I do believe that is true . But a couple of wonder ful new friends made it even mo re accessible and many times more enjoyable.

************ 1574 ·11 Pagoda Double 11 Roy Davidson

There may well be more than a single plant involved in what goes by the name of Iris pseudacorus "Fl ore Plena • 11 The one here i 11 ustrated was first seen in the Huntsville garden of Marie McGahee and was referred to as the "Pagoda Double" to distinguish it from prior known doubles described as "more like scrambled eggs." They might however be one and the same pl ant flowering in different manners according to growing conditions. I have not dissected the other one and cannot form an opinion as to whether they are one or two . Two are ap parently known in Japan. As can be seen (left) there is no ovary at the bottom as in the usual, normal iris. The lowermost segments or "petals" are surmounted by a mass of tissue, some of it recognizable as contorted falls, bristles of standards, aberrant style-arms and aborted stamens, seemingly borne in whorls. Trimming away all this material revealed (center) a firm co lumn of tissue, the fused bases of all these parts. When this was cut lengthwise (x) an ovarian cavity was disclosed. This is shown (right) about twice actual size, a false-ovary which did not seem to have been segmented into the usual three locules of an iris, and (far right magnified about ten ti mes) was f i 11 ed with ye 11 ow tissue, apparently aborted ovules, appearing as tiny yellow crinkled ribbons .

...... ------,.------

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IRIS PSEUDACORUS 11 Pagoda Double" Roy Davidson 1575 OUR READERS WRITE: About Wide Crosses SAMUEL NORRIS, Owensboro, KY ... It looks as if there are more crosses that failed than there are ones that set seed. My first success and probably the one that had more to do with my interest in the Iris was the cross of Iris (Pardanthopsis) dichotoma x Belamcanda chinensis. The cross has becomealmost routine since that first difficult one was made. Plants from a number of different sources have been used and the majority of the crosses have produced seed. I'm still trying to learn more about the hybrids but I st i 11 don I t know much more about them than when the first X Pardancanda plants bloomed twenty years ago . A fairly wide cross was made between the 40 chromosome siberian Iris and I. prismatica. Only three seedlings were produced, two from plants 1-1ith yellow blooms and one from a purple. The blooms and plant growth looked to be identical in all three. The bloom stalks and the plant growth was very sharply upright and gave the overall impression of a very small 28 chromosome Siberian Iris, and even the blooms give the same impression. The blooms are a rather grayish blue. Increase is fairly rapid but the rhizomes are so small and grow so close together that a six-year clump may not be over six inches in diameter. This is a cross that should be repeated, as well as I. prismatica x the west coast Iris. A cross that may not seem quite so wide but still is not common is that of an RC (regelio-cyclus) x I. kumaonensis. Six plants resulted from this cross, all were essentially identical, and were intermediate between the parent plants as far as growth and form were concerned, but the color of the bloom was more nearly like that of kumaonensis. These plants were also completely sterile and my attempts to convert them to tetraploids only succeeded in killing them. This fall I intend to try to convert some of the pseudoregelia seedlings to tetraploid with the hope that any seedlings that result from crossing with the tetraploid OGs (onco-gelias) will be fertile.

Like most everyone else who grows both I. virginica and I. versicolor I tried making the cross and produced some rather attractive plants that were slightly fertile. About that same time I converted some of the I. virginica plants to tetraploid. Both the blooms and the plants were larger than those of the diploids but there were never many blooms at a time. These tet plants were fertile and when back crossed to the diploid I. virginica plants produced seedlings that were triploids and that had close to the same number of chromosomes as the I. versicolor plants. These triploids . were slightly fertile and it is possible that if plants f rom a different location had been involved in the crosses they might have been fully fertile. There is a possibility that versicolor could have resulted from an unreduced gamete of I. vi rgi ni ca crossing with a regular gamete. The odds are highly in favor of this being the case as this could happen any1-Jhere the I. virginica plants are growing, while the suggested origin from the cross of I. setosa x I. vi rgi ni ca could only happen where the plants are growing together. The fact t hat no viable seed have resulted from the I. setosa x I. virginica cross tends to confirm this hypothesis. Crossing the oncocyclus Iris with the regelias has been done so many times that it is no longer considered a wide cross but there is still much to be learned about the hybrids. The tet oncos and OGs that John Holden and I 1576 OUR READERS WRITE: About Wide Crosse s produced cross readily with I . stolon if era and I. hoogi ana and produce fertile hybrids that will self, sib , or back cross in either direction. Since producing the tetraploid OGs John and I have naturally taken the next step in crossing them with the TBs to produce new arilbreds . My first seed produced was in an I . aphylla x tet OG cross . Only one seed was produced and counting the seed coat along with the rest of the seed wasn't much 1arger than the embryo of a tet OG. I did succeed in getting it to germinate but it took a lot of TLC to get it up to blooming size . There was only one bloom stalk having one bloom about the size, shape, and color of aphylla, but there was also a faintly discernible signal spot. That was several years ago and there has been no bl oom since. The first bloom set no seed but I keep hoping there will be some bloom this year and possibly some seed. Ever since the tet OGs were produced cop ious amounts of their pollen has been spread on the TB blooms, and until last year with a complete lack of seed . Last year the TB blooms were opened two days prior to their normal opening and the pollen was applied at that time. Although many were treated this way only one, ENGLISH COTTAGE , produced viable seed, and not very many of them. Use of the TB pollen on the tet OGs proved to be more successful but if it were all counted up there would probably be less than one seedling produced for each bloom pollinated. You might well ask why go to so much trouble to produce new arilbreds when there are so many beautiful ones already available. The answer is that the original arilbreds were produced from a limited number of onco species and C.G. White used TBs that would not rate a second look today. By introducing new OG chromosomes into the AB gene pool, as well as using newer TBs in making the crosses, there is a possibility that vigor, hardiness, and variability of the blooms will be greatly enhanced. My first blooms looked more like diploid OGs than they did ABs, but I am beginning to think this might have been just a one time thing due to the parents involved in makin g the crosses . When these are crossed with the older strains of ABs t here should be some wild variations that show up . Now for some of the unsuccessful crosses. I. dichotoma and x Pardancanda had pollen from the following used on them : I. versicolor, virginica, setosa, prismatica, psuudacorus, tectorum, laevigata, and kaempferi , and probably others I can't remember. Tetrapl oid I. tectorum had pollen from I. stolonifera, the tet OGs , and the TBs used on it. I. virginica had pollen from I. setosa and I . tridentata used on it as well as the reciprocal crosses being made . I. versicolor had pollen from I. setosa used on i t, and the reciprocal cross was also made . This cross could have produced plants having the same number of chromosomes as I. virginica, and who is to say which way the actual cross was made until someone duplicates it. I. setosa and I. trident a ta were crossed. They must not be as closely related as is generally thought as not eve n seed pods were produced. -- continued 1577 A very limited attempt was made using I. cristata pollen on a TB. I. prismatica had pollen from I. virginica, setosa, and pseudacorus used on 1 t. Something should be remembered about the unsuccessful crosses . 100, 1,000, or 10,000 failures does not prove that two plants cannot be crossed, but only one good, viable seed can prove that they can be. ************

. . .. . WYATT LE FEVER, Kernersville, NC ... I was able to set a pod on a large bluish I. versicolor seedling with the pollen of I. laevigata 11 Semperflorens, 11 also a blue or violet. Interestingly, the resulting seedlings were about half and half "blue" and 11 red. 11 I selected the best one, a "red," and planted it in my dayl ily bed. It grew into a large clump in short order.· I wouldn't say it is among the prettiest garden iris I have seen, but it fs certainly the most vigorous and longest blooming. It starts blooming here about the second week of May and continues for about six or seven weeks with a few scattered blooms into early July. This extended bloom is presented in an interesting and unique manner. In addition to being well branched and budded, each bud placement or socket continues to produce flowers after the last flower in that bud has dried up and disappeared, maybe three days later. This continues until each socket has produced five·to seven flowers . It does have several faults including the tendency to sprawl somewhat, and apparently the tendency to rot and die when sent to other gardens. (At least, this has happened twice.) I can't explain this as the plant seems very tough here. Anyway I haven't done anything with it since, but I would like to get it out into the trade to be seen by other iris fanciers. I haven't tried that particular cross again, but I have tried to cross a red versicolor with some of the fancy forms of laevigata such as "Colchesterensis. 11 I didn't spend a lot of time on this but did try six or eight times with no luck. Pods sometimes form on the plant but no viable seeds have been found. I haven't tried to cross-pollinate it as I suspect it is steri le. ************ 1578 OUR READ ERS WRITE: About Wi de Cr o s s e s LOUIS S. STAHL , Bedford, MA •• • I have had experience with one particular cross, I. siberica x I. versicolor and the reverse. There were also a couple of miscellaneous crosses I attempted the same season . In 1987, I carried out a variety of crosses involving two versicolors, CLARET CUP and Bee Warburton ' s ROUGETTE and several different Siberians. The procedures I fo 11 owed were genera 11 y those described by Currier Mc Ewen in his book "Siberian Irises," including tying up flowers to prevent insect pollination before and after making the cross. The following crosses failed to produce any evidence of pollination: OMA R' S CUP x ROUGETTE , CABERNET x CLARET CUP, CLARET CUP x WINDWOOD SPRI NG (a tetraploid Siberian), CLARET CUP x CABERNET, CLARET CUP x APPALOOSA BLUE, SPARKLE x ROUGETTE , ROUGETTE x WINDWOOD SPRING, ROUGETTE x ANN IVERSARY, ANNIVERSARY x ROUGETTE . The following crosses set pods which failed to enlarge properly or were otherwise abnormal and produced no seed : ROUGETTE x LYDIA WINTER, ROUGETTE x "Bee ' s 40" (an unregistered 40 chromosome siberian of uncertain parentage, probably SIGNA seed, distributed locally from Bee Warburton's garden), OMAR'S CUP x ROUGET~E (a repeat a day later of the total failure li sted above). The following crosses produced pods which were close to mature in size and age, and contained seeds : CABERNET x CLARET CUP (a second attempt- -seeds sma ll and shrivel ed when harvested in Se ptember), LYDIA WINTER x ROUGETTE (seed very small when pod harvested totally dry and brown in mid-August) . No plants were produced from the seed of the former of the above; the seed f r om t he latter was clearly not viable. Two other wide crosses involving siberians were attempted . Both produced ab normal pods with no seed: BLACK GAMECOCK (LA) x LYDIA WINTER, PERIWINKLE PINWHEEL (JA) x JAYBIRD. A few observations ·are worth noting. Persistence is the name of the game --crosses which failed tot ally on e day sometimes gave pod swelling when attempted a few days later; not surprisingly, pollen and style condition , as we 11 as weather and any other vari ab 1es wi 11 be even more critical for wide crosses t han for regular hybridization . The sample size is too small to draw any concl usions, but in this sample siberian x I. versicolor looked more promising than the reverse. Induct ion of ovarian swelling and pod formation is not uncommon in these crosses between beardless species, but good, viab le seed is . Altho ugh versicolor has been described as a natural tetraploid , the one tetraploid siberian cross attempted was very unsuccessful. The only wide cross plants I have experience growing (besides arilbreds and arilmedians : how wide is wide?) are Cals i bs . Of these, only PACIFIC WAVES has been persistent in my garden. ************ 1579 I. FULVA AND I. BREVICAULIS HYBRIDIZING PROGRAMS Robert 0. Fabel-War d

After presenting a paper on small gardens before the In ternational Plant Propagators' Society at Charleston, S.C., several peopl e inquired about the space that certain plants require for good growth and among those mentioned were different types of irises . Many people have small gardens and the discussion turned to dwarf plants. Two hybridizing programs were begun as a result using both Irises fulva and brevicaulis . When I use the term "fulva hybrid ," please understand that dominance of t he features of this iris can be recognized. As for I. brevicaulis hybrids, the same applies; one has to recognize it as a hybri d of that species .

I became interested chiefly in what colors could be obtained by using I . fulva since it has a good range of colors. By using the lighter colored ones in breeding programs, different colors have been obtained. Breeding consisted of using known cultivars x the species. Usually after the third and fourth generation the desired results could be realized ; however whole programs were failures . The ratio continues to be 75 to 1.

The following colors were obtained: pink, rosy-pink, pale violet, dark violet, rose-brown, dark brown, light brown, orange-br0\-1n, and orange-yellow and several muddy types. Dark colored cultivars produced t he best results in these crosses, and all seedlings that didn't demonstrate fulva type were destroyed. One of the best crosses was HAILE SELASSIE x I. fulva"cafe au lait" resulting in many fulva types with royal purple; one seedling has a very large signal which will be used in further crosses .

Using the pollen of I. fulva on I. brevicaulis alba has produced interesting hybrids with all sorts of signals; these too, must be watched for further results. All the tests in this program wi 11 be finished in 1993 . All of Frank Chowning's brevicauli s hybrids were used, and since I. fulva and most hybrids ·bloom two to three weeks before I. brevicaulis much c-are must be used in preserving the pollen. The Chowning hybrids bloom with many collected bfevicaulis clones and were used as pollen parents. Most tests involved brevicaulis alba, PETIT - N- SWEET, TRAIL OF TEARS, POMP AND GLORY ; these produced mostly blues with very nice signals . It is with I. fulva "cafe au lait" x brevicaulis that some of the best results came through. Those crosses using POMP AND GLORY produced some very beautiful signals. JOY ROBERTS x brevicaulis alba produced beaut iful pinks, violet­ pinks , and several with unusual signals. These tests also will be finished in 1993.

Finally, several crosses between a variegated fulva x variegated gi gant i caerul ea were done this year with three pod s gro,,.li ng and one pod showing variegation; results will probably be known in 1993 . ************ 1580 EDITOR'S COMMENTS

Again this issue is not what we anticipated. \.;e did get in a little regional material on Florida iris growing. Jim Waddick's China trip takes precedence over everything--many would agree, I think, that this is the most exciting spe cies iris ne ws in years. I need to apologize to Jim for not jncludjng another a rticle with an idea dear to his heart "The World's Rarest Iris" dealing with joint ventures in tissue culture--if you're interested , write Dr. James Waddick, 3233 McGee, Kansas City, MO 64111.

Actually the wide cross hybrids oriented issue seemed to generate more interest than any other I have done--I still have more material along this line and wonder if I should just follow through with it. Let me know what you think--before February 1 please. .r,., few wide crosses I bloomed this year were very interesting--for long and beautiful bloom, I give an A+ to a red versicolor X laevigata from Horinaka. I don't know if it is the one Jean Witt registered as ASIAN ALLIANCE but it was a welcome addition to my garden . The blue form was not nearly as pretty or as vigorous. A versicolor X pseudacorus cross ( probably from Germany) was interesting, dark veining on a near-white ground, nice but not showy.

I had hoped that someone would send in a Convention report (guess I should have assigned this) but since none has been forthcoming, I 'll report . briefly-- the SIGNA meeting had a large attendance--some 48 people signed the register and I can see where many were missed . Colin Rigby showed slides of many beautiful irids. The gardens were love! y but not very many species iris were in evidence. Mos t frequently encountered was a very nice yellow I. fulva , blooming in several gardens. Only one garden had the normal fulvous variety. Other species worth mentioning were the many many feet of blue tectorum edgings--behind the iris and companion plants bordering the full length of the Pi.erce yard . In another garden--I wish I could find my notes and Convention book--a very unusual white I . tectorum, somewhat narrow for a white--but with BRANCHES--was labeled "Moon Gold." Very interesting! The same garden had a nice clump of I . versicolor and a beautiful, wide petaled , ruffled I. virginica which Elajne Hu l bert identified as the clone We-Du Nursery named CONTRABAND GIRL some time after they began selling it. Again the same garden had a wonderful clump of .!.-=.. pal lida growing around a tree . Not a lot of species in Memphis but they were interesting.

Late breaking news is that the Historic Iris Preservation Society--HIPS--has been accepted as a Section of the American Irjs Society. Species being quite historical, it seems as though a rather large number of our members are also involved with HIPS. I'm sure we all wish them well.

I seem to remember Elaine H. writing that the Northeast Apogon Auction has sent another generous donation to SIGNA. Many thanks again! 9"~