The Eupogon Iris Specie§ in Cultivation the Median Iris Society
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THE EUPOGON IRIS SPECIE§ IN CULTIVATION THE MEDIAN IRIS SOCIETY 1970 THE EUPOGON IRIS SPECIES IN CULTIVATION ; We might dedicate this volume to those who have sought out the wild irises and brought them home for us to cherish in our gardens and to add new quality to our breeding for better garden plants; but let us dedicate it instead to those who will in future see their beauty and work to preserve these and other wild things of this earth. Previous publication of the Median Iris Society Prodan, Iulius, The Eupogon Iris Species MIS Press, Westborough, Massachusetts, 1970 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 77-117153 THE EUPOGON IRIS SPECIES IN CULTIVATION A CLONAL LISTING ~ I Beatrice A. Warburton, Editor, The Median Iris Society Charlotte Orr Gantz, Species Editor, The Median Iris Society .,., MIS Press-Hudson Printers Westborough, Massachusetts / Library of Congress Catalog Card Nwnber: 70-123003 _ MIS Press-Hudson Printers, Westborough, Massachusetts 01581 © 1970 by The Median Iris Society, a Section of The American Iris Society Printed in the United States of _America, 1970 All rights reserved CONTENTS Preface vii Contributors viii Introduction ix Clonal Listing 1 Additional Reference Citations 45 References . ·. 47 Explanations and Abbreviations 48 Glossary . 49 Registered Clones of Iris pumila 51 Garden Raised Seedlings of Iris pumila 52 ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Iris ambertellon . 1 2. Iris fieberi Randolph A-28A . 2 3. Iris aphylla var. monantha Randolph 61-78A 2 4. APHYLLA HUNGARY . 3 5. ATTICA PARNES. • . 6 6. FLORENTINA Randolph K-9. 15 7. GERMANICA Randolph Y-25A 17 8. Iris illyrica Randolph 61-35A 18 9. Iris pseudopumila Randolph I-43A 27 10. Iris pumila Randolph R-44 34 11. Iris reichenbachii Randolph 61-48D 39 12. Iris reichenbachii Randolph 6012-4 . 39 13. Iris scariosa . 40 14. Iris taurica . 42 15. Iris variegata, Foster form . 44 16. Iris variegata pontica with white mutant 44 Photos: 1, 16, Hanselmayer; 13, Berlin; 14, Bot. Cab. 1506, 1829; 15, Witt; all others Randolph. PRE FA CE There is nothing absolute about the existence of a species. Every species epithet published represents an opinion held by its author, and is validated or invalidated by the opinions of other authors and the opinions of stilllater authors concerning the validity of the opinions of their pred ecessors. In preparing this check list, your editors were faced with the fact that in many cases the exact status of a species, subspecies or variety had not been determined by a consensus of expert opinions. An excellent statement of the problem is contained in "Classification of Eupogon Irises," L. F.Randolph and G. H.M. Lawrence, published in the AIS Bulletin No.148, January 1958, p. 9, reprinted here with the kind permission of the authors and of AIS. "It is with definite reservations concerning their taxonomic status that various species are listed as distinct entities in this classification rather than being considered as synonyms of oth er species. Most species of the Subsection Iris are sufficiently well known to place them with assurance in the appropriate Series as they are here defined; but their evaluation as good species is often hampered by inadequate descriptions, insufficient herbarium material, or lack of fa miliarity with the range of variability exhibited by the plants in their native habitats. Bearded iris species as a group are extremely variable and much of this variability is heritable as shown by their breeding behavior, by differences among clones grown side by side in cultivation, and by the prevalence in wild populations of variation in flower color, form of spathes, leaf shape, and other traits not easily influenced by environment. Conclusions based on observations of a few clones or a few her barium specimens can be and often are misleading. Until a thorough re vision of the genus Iris is undertaken at the species level the status of many species will remain in doubt." We could not make definitive judgments ourselves without stopping to get degrees in tax onomy, making original collections and conducting a thorough study of all material in European herbaria. On the other hand, some judgments were unavoidable; in making them, we have gath ,. ered the available information, and then done the best we could. Clones are listed under the preferred species, subspecies or variety, with references elsewhere to that listing. Where we have indicated disagreement among the authorities, readers should remember that later judg ments are more likely to be correct-particularly when based on chromosome counts. Dykes, to whom we owe a debt of gratitude for his early monumental work on the species, depended largely on other collectors' herbarium specimens and plants grown in a few English gardens {he rarely visited the sites himself), and he did not have the benefit of chromosome counts nor of modern cytological techniques. There can be no doubt that he would have been the first to re joice over these present-day sources of information and the last to say that newer decisions on taxonomy should be set aside simply because "they conflict with Dykes." In compiling this list the editors have received generous assistance from a large number of iris fanciers. First and foremost, our gratitude goes to L. F. {Fitz) Randolph, whose collecting and distributing of the species plants made this volume necessary, and to Mrs Randolph, who kept the records ·Of these collections and made them available to us; their professional advice and supervision during the tedious preparation of the data herein assembled has preserved us, we hope, from serious blundering in treatment of our confused and confusing assortment of bearded species. We greatly appreciate Dr Randolph1 s expert editorial advice and assistance in preparation of the final copy. : We also owe particular thanks to foreign iris collectors, Eckard Berlin, Milan Blazek, Rudolf Hanselmayer, Ivo Horvat, Franz Kurzmann, George Rodionenko, Wilhelm Schacht, Peter Werckmeister and others, who have made many important contributions of rare or little-known species and have been generous with information about them. To all the growers and hybridi zers who have furnished data, we express here our profound gratitude; and particularly to the first president of the Median Iris Society, Earl R.Roberts, who produced for us from his volu minous notes a wealth of horticultural descriptions of the many species clones he has grown at the Society1 s Central Test Garden; and to Jerry Flintoff who compiled the excellent listing . of additional reference citations on page 45, and additional references on page 47. CONTRIBUT.ORS The following list of contributors to this volume is alphabetized by the abbreviations by which they are noted in the text. Such identifying initials or abbreviations of names are used to indicate lines of · distribution of the individual clones and are not published as present sources of the listed clones. The code identifies each contributor's field of interest as follows: C=field collector; G=grower; H=hybridizer; I=scientist in pertinent discipline; S=commercial; W=writer in this field. AB Alta Brown, Washington HS M Jyotirmay Mitra IW Aj Karl Ajdovic, Austria C Ma Leona Mahood, Washington H AP Adelaide Peterson, Tennessee H MB Milan Blazek, Czechoslovakia CHI Ba Ethel Baukus, Wisconsin G Mc William G. Mc Garvey, New York HW BR Bruce Richardson, Ontario GW Mel Melrose Gardens (see Ha) S BW Bee Warburton, Massachusetts HW N Laurence Neel, England s COG Charlotte Orr Gantz, Pennsylvania HW NC Nancy Crist, Indiana GW CW Carol Walters, California G OS Orpha Salsman, Washingtbn H D Dorothy Dennis, Arkansas H P Elizabeth Price, Pennsylvania H Da Gerald Darby, England (dee. ) HS PC Paul H. Cook, Indiana (dee). H DS David Saunders, British Columbia H PE Margaret Edwards, New York H EB Eckard Berlin, Germany CH PH Phyllis Holtz, Idaho H ERo Earl R Roberts, Indiana HSW Rand L. F. Randolph, New York (and Fannie R. Randolph) CHIW ET Esther Terrill, Missouri H RD Leroy Davidson, Washington GW F1 Jerry Flintoff, Washington HW Re David Reath, Michigan H Fo H. Senior Fothergill, England HW Ri Earl Rider, Pennsylvania H GD Geddes Douglas, Tennessee HS RM Ray Monnie, Pennsylvania H Gr Wilma Greenlee, Illinois H Rod George I. Rodionenko, USSR CIW Gu Grace Guenther, Iowa H RP Rex Pearce, Moorestown, NJ (dee) S Ha Ben R. Hager, California (see RS Robert S Schreiner, Oregon HSW also Mel) HS Ru Edwin A. Rundlett, New York HW Hans Rudolf Hanselmayer, Austria(dec.) CH Sch Wilhelm Schacht, Germany C JET JoAnne E. Tufts, Massachusetts HI Sw Robert Swearengen, Indiana (dee.) H JGW Jean G. Witt, Washington HW Irene Van de Water, New York HI KH Katherine Heinig, New York IW Vde Ku Franz Kurzmann, Austria C vN Hertha van Nes, ~rmany HI L Lee W. Lenz, California IC w Walter Welch, Indiana HW LE Lee Eberhardt, Ohio HW Wer Peter Werckmeister, Germany CHIW LM Lynn Markham, Massachusetts H Y Freeman Yendall, New York HIW INTRODUCTION For those who want to grow the best possible form of any species, as well as for those who use them for hybridization, clonal identification is of the utmost im- · portance, particularly in the case of such polymorphic species as those of bearded irises. This was brought home to members of the Northeast Median Group in 1956 when Dr Randolph brought to a meeting several large flats filled with blooming plants of the previously unfamiliar species which he had collected in 1954. In the flats, with various clones of l. attica and a number of other species, were seven clones of l_. pseudopumila, covering the range of variation of this very polymorphic species. Luckily for us Dr Irene van de Water was present, for while we mostly stood gasping or pleading for pollen, Irene insisted that we must forthwith make detailed descriptions of the clones.