... . ·..

;:' f\ · -- ~

SIGNA

, , :.

_. ~ • ; • • : \ I

•. I . ,;

IBE SPECIES STIJDY GROUP OF NORIB AMERICA · -f.{:l l THE SPECIES IRIS STUDY GROUP OF NORTH AMERICA

October, 1978 - No. 21

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY

CHZURMAN Jean Witt 16516 - 25th, NE., Seattle, Wash. 98155 Grace Carter 1212 Tucker Road Hood River, Oregon 97051

SEED EXOIANGE Mary Duvall Route 1, Box 142 DIREC'IOR Dassel, Minn. 55325 SPECIES ROBIN Lorena Reid 41866 McKenzie Highway DIRECTOR Springfield, Oregon 97477 EDITOR Bruce Richardson 492 Tuenty Rd. E., R.R. 2, Hannon, Ontario, LOR IPO. CANADA EDITOR OF THE B. LeRoy Davidson STUDY MANUAL 911 Western Ave., #200, Seattle, Wash. 98104

CONTENTS Page No .

Executive Message Jean Witt 625 Publications Available 625 Pallas Ex Link Ernest G.B . Luscombe 626 Miniature Irises for the Rock Garden Earl Roberts 628 Exchange 631 Some Notes From The Retiring Secr;tary-Treasurer Homer Metcalf 632 SIGNA - Financial Statement~ 1978 Homer Metcalf 633 Letters 634 Growing Irises in Alabama Marie R. McGhee 636 Breeding Experiences with IPis attica B. LeRoy Davidson 638 Critical Notes regarding and V. I. Grubov Nomenclature of Certain Species - USSR (Researched by Homer Metcalf) 639 The Genus Iris - A Lump or Many Splits Bee Warburton 647 The Irises of Small and Al exander B. LeRoy Davidson 648 Names and Things B. Le Roy Davidson 650 Darby's Iris X Robusta B. LeRoy Davidson 651 Questions Please Jean Witt & B. LeRoy Davidson 651 Of Fragrance Again 653 Iris Species of Portugal, Spain &North Africa Sir Cedric Morris 654 Notes on Smaller Species Rudolf Hanselrnayer 656 Irises in Egypt W.J. Schovil SIGNA Membership List B. Richardson 665 Publication Available from SIGNA B. Richardson 673 Editorial Comments B. Richardson 674

********** . l _.1 625

EXECUTIVE MESSAGE Jean Witt During the summer the persor:el changes in the SIGNA EXECUTIVE COUNCIL which our editor indicated in the l ast issue have come to pass. Roy Davidson ha~ retried as Chairman, as he had l ong wished to do, and I find myself in his shoes, having agreed to serve as Chairman for the time being.

Homer Metcalf, our Secretary-Treasurer, will be succeeded in October by Grace Carter, of Hood River, Oregon. We hope she will find her duties much simplified, since our dues--except for our few associate members--can now be paid along with A. I.S. dues, now that we have Sectional status. On behalf of our membership, my thanks. to both of them for their many years of service to our SPECIES IRIS GROUP; their many hours of labor in the cause of species iris are gratefully acknowledged. Bruce Richardson ha$ agreed to contin~e as Editor for the immediate ftture-­ I obtained this assurance from him in person while my husband and I were attending a· convention in his part of Ontario last June--and a lovely area it is, where many kinds of irises grown very well indeed. My personal thanks to the members of the IRIS SOCIETY OF MINNESOTA for taking on the duties of the seed exchange . Mary D.uvall of Route 1, . Box 142, Dassel, Minn. 55325, has volunteered to receive the . . ·I urge your continued support of this on-going project, as it now furnishes most of the funds fo:r one of our two yearly issues of SIGNA.

Baring unforeseen circumstances, we are set to continue on our way. I foresee no particular changes of policy or direction under the new regime. We have had an influx of new members over the summer, whether because of species seen at San Jqse, or from interest generated by the appearance of the new book, IBE WORLD OF IRISES. I don't know--but we're delighted to welcome you all. We h&ve a continuing need for mor,.; members ' participation--Bruce needs your articles, connnents or letters-- he has plenty of sources for reprints and taxonomic minutae from far away places, but it's today's live c

Wishing you all a winter that will be favorable to the irises.

**********

PUBLIC ATIONS AVAILABLE SIGNA: 1 to 20 $1.50 each issue IRIS STUDY MANU!..L $5.00 for the complete1set. Additions as issued to members free. A GUIDE TO THE PACIFIC COAST IRISES, Cohen $1.50 Only 3 copies left. THE GENUS IRIS: SUBSECTION SIBIRICAE, Grey-Wilson .50¢ Only 2 copies left. AN P.LPHABETICAL TABLE AND CULTIVATION GUIDE TO THE SPECIES OF THE GENUS IRIS • Marchant & Ha thew $ 1. 50 Send orders for the above to the Secretary-Treasurer. 626

IRIS SETOS A PALLAS EX LroK (\ 1/i~RL'\BLE AND Lt4 RGELY BOREAL IRIS SPECIES. Ernest G. B, Lusoombe

m the '19~4~Iri s, Ye;;, Book I contributed an articl e which provided a botanical description ·and drawing of the type-species, which is now lmovm as Iris setosa sub~ species ~e-posa in. order to separate it from I . · setosa subsp. interior (Anderson ) Hulten.! _In t_he same Year.Book Dr. G. I. Rodionenko commented upon its natural dis-· tribution in·th~ far -north-east of , where a very severe. climate and frozen soil conditions are long sustained, so that where the is found inlar1d the growing period is very shor t . He contends that it is the oost cold-resistant of all irises •. Wl:J,ez:~ it .grows on the shores of the Okhotsk Sea .it is seen to be salt tolerant. One factor -which contributes to the extensive over-all geographical rru1ge of this iris i's that he very distinct seeds can become waterborne with impunity for 200 days or more. Dr. Rodionenko says that the flowers are of a vivid violet-purple colour, b~t . I believe. that the preva1ling flower-colour among ga~den-grovm specimens in 'the pnit'ed Kingdom is a more .. subdued violet-mauve . :WJI's . Jean G. Witt of Seattle has reyealed_that various forms of I . setosa have been brought into cultivation in the U.S.A., and that in Alaska the flowers occur in.attractive colour- variations which include white and pinkish forms, but it seems that the best of these have not yet been introduced into Norcth America nor our ovm horticulture . . In the Aleutian I slands Eric H~ten discovered specimens with purple flowers and a very stout and peculiar white-flower~d form. The insignificant, erect stand segments of the perianth have always been con­ ') sidered to be an essential diagnostic feature of this iri_s species, but the late , ...... ·· Eric HuJ. ten, who publi_shed voluminous botru1ical works which included the FLORAS of ALASKA, the YUKON, the ALEUTIAN-ISLANDS and KAMCHATKA. PENINSULA publishi:d the 11vf:.r. pZatyrhyn.cria.. Hul te_n 11 but he. tater agreed that· this should be 11forma p'lat;yrhyncha" as the specimens -s ·;at.tered sporadically· amongst the pppulation of .I . setosa subsp. setosa and do not constitute a community which is confined to a specific locality. In this form the st~dards .are dilated, broader and larger, with an acute o~ obtuse apex. Even. in f o.rma p'latyrhyn.cria. the size and ·shape'of .the stanqards is variable, and in some· inst~ces they·app:roximate· to normal standards such as those found in the Sibiricae . In the normal exampl es of subsp. setosa the standar.ds do not exceed · 2 cm. long, and ther~ -is ,at the base a small cordate expansion from which arises t he 11 11 very slender . l ong-pointed· apicctl part, In hi s 1924 Handoook , however, Dy~rns indicates that this outli ne is often subject to· a variation whereby there are two distinct expansions, one above the other, surmounted by a ~horter, erectJ subulate apex. l :_. In Alaska I. setosa subsp. setosa i s of course subject to a very auster e environment and is a maritime species, being f ound in the Alexander Archipelao and on the adjacent mainland, and on much of the re 11a.ining seaboard, spreading northwards to the northern shores of Ko tzebue Sound where· it ext.ends a short distance above the Arctic Circle. At one point, cast to north-east from Skagway it ?ccurs just over the border into British Columbia. It is also commonly found ·orr the Alaskan ·p_~ninsµLa , . , Kodiak Island and the _Aleutilµ)-. Is;L.a.nW?. . Iri_s . se.tosa subsp. setosa ·is also. r eP.or:ted.·: as being found on S8;l1d ·fiat~;/(t he -h:i.ghway crossing· the Takhin:t::~1.ver., west ~rom Whitehorse, Yti'.kon Te.rritory; · ·., . . . . · ·~ ··: . , ...... I . setosa subsp . . interi~.f. pos~e~,$.eS -?_pathes which are scario\1s ( ipstead· of herbaceous) and distinctly V:iot.~t-:-cplou;r.ed, !3h9rter than the pedicels; and the leaves oore slender (About 5·•to 8 mm. · broad) and less arched. Dr. Edgar .Anderson, in the 627 l,NNALS OF THE MISSOURI BOTANIC GARDEN 1936, says that this entity must approximate primitive types of Ins setosa which extended across northern North America in pre­ glacial times; Intermediates occur in the Bering Strait district where the two races meet. Subspecies interior is found in the Central Yukon District and else­ where in the interior parts of .Alaska. In the north-central pert just south of the Brooks Range it is found to a limited extent above the Arctic Circle, and e>..-tends eastwards to appear in one place in the White River region in the Yukon Territory. In 1902 Miss Eastwood published the species binomial Ins a:rctioa, but Hulten has discredited this. He said that 'judging from the type-specimens this is a fairly normal I. ·aetosa subsp._ setosa with a slight tendency towards subsp. intenor. Subsp. setosa itself is subject to variation in its precise morphology and in flower-colo~. Subsp. interior was formerly thought to be an endemic in central .Alaska, but Hulteri discovered this same plant at Penshine (Penzhino) in the far north-east of Siberia. In Siberia subsp. setosa is widely represented in the River Yenisey basin, eastwards to middle Lena and Kolyma Rivers, and on to the Far East at linadyr, Kam­ chatka and Sakhalin Island, then southwards to Manchuria. From thence it spreads to Korea and Japan, where it i s found on Both Honshu and Hokkaido Islands. In April 1963 the Tokyo University published a brochure which included the formal publication of two Japanese varients of I. setosa described by Dr . Sachiko Kurosawa, viz: var. hondoensis Hondo which is found isolated at Kirigamine near the southern border of the Japanese range of I. setosa; and var. nasuensis Hara from Nasu of middle Honshu. As compared with the type-species, var. hondoensis Hondo has less branched flower-stalks, larger flowers 11-14 cm . in diameter; larger standards, to 3 cm. long; the pollen grains show a high percentage of' sterility, and the seed pods do not develop: the chromosome cou.~t is mostly·2n =·54 but sometimes ~2, 56 or 57. It may possibility be of hybrid origin and a triploid, I. setosa subsp. setoaa contributing an unreduced gamete 2n =: · J~f united with a normal reduced .gamete from I . Zaevigata, n = 16 although this suggestion of parent­ age is putative. Var. nasuensis Hara was discovered by the Emperor Hirohito in 19q2 at Hitotsumomi, Nasu. I t is an impressively large and peculiar plant attaining 1 m. tall with leaves up to 3. 5 cm. wide; the flowers are approximately 9 cm. in ctl.ameter with large violet standards about 2 cm. long, the pollen grains are partly sterile, and the fruits do not develop. The chromosome count is 2n = 54. Although it may be assumed to be a triploid and there is no direct evidence of hybrid origin, var. naauensis bears some resemblence to I. ensata Thumb. var.spontanes (Makino) Nakai ( syn. I. kaempferi Sieb. ) which is found commonly in Nasu. The true origins of both var. hondoensia and var. nasuensis have not been determined. According to Dykes, a white-flowered form of I. setosa subsp. aetoaa is lmown from Japan. In North America. a quite distinct variant is found in the extreme east along the seaboard of eastern Quebec, Labrador, the St. Lawrence estuary and Newfoundland, south to northern Maine. This is a more dwarf plant; the stem unbranched, bearing a 1-2 flowered terminal head, named I. setosa subsp. aanade">J,sis (M. Foster) Hul ten (syn. I. hookeri Penny). It is perhaps inappropriate to separate this entity from I. setosa on the specific level, as Dr. R.C. Foster of the Bray Herbarium, Harvard, 1937, said ·that the chromosome complement of this variant and that of' subsp. setosa are identical. Subsp. setosa is a calcifuge plant which needs a lime-free soil, but, according to H.J. ·Scoggan, 1950, in contrast subsp. aanad.ensis is a calciphilous one, and is also a sand-lover and salt- tolerant. It i s found in slaty fields and on sea cliffs, in river gravels, on swamp land, and on sea beaches . 'I\<;o distinct varients of subsp. canadensis are recorded, viz: forrna pallidflora Fernald: plant and flower larger: flower parts white with o. slight bluish tint in the large falls. Newfoundland & Bic. forma zonalis Eames: distinct by reason of the leaves showing transverse bands of white or yellowish- white sometimes bordered ,vith red. Newfoundland and Quebec province, Canada. 628

Hulten records his failure to discover any forms of I. setosa in Kamchatka or .Alaska which were either stemlsss or with an abbreviated stem, but the standard Flora of the entire specifies two such entities, both bearing solitary , .,,,&· flowers, viz: forma serotina Komarov in which the stem is quite undeveloped, and forma aZpina with the stem but little developed. Both of these forms appear in Siberia.

I am indebeted to Professor Homer N. Metcalf of Montana State University for my acquaintance with Eric Hulten's findings.

ED: Reprinted from the January, 1978 NEflSLETTER of the BRITISH IRIS SOC.TETI, with the kind permission of Mr. Luscombe.

Readers are referred to SI,CNA No . 18, pages 493-504 for the a:r>tiaZe THE IRIDS OP ALASKA by Pr>of. Metcalf for loaation drca.vings and plant drca.vings of I. setosa. The -two a:r>tiaZes aomplement eaah other, aovering the same subjeat but from slightly different viewpoints. Readers are warned that HuZten's findings are not aZZ aaaepted by everyone and that new information is aonstan.tZy being presented. The word variety and subspeaies 11as been uoed in both a:z,tiales interahangeabZy and in the same context and aan be aonside-:red a measure of the lack of exaat knowledge and agreement among experts as well as amateurs. Klwwled?J·e is a continuing thing and can weZZ be said ·to never be complete. **********

MINIATURe IRISES FOR THE ROCK GARDEN ..-.:~'l'. EarZ Roberts ''~---' During the past nine years we have experimented in growing the mini-mi-iris in our rock gardens. We have enjoyed learning about the various demands of the differ-. ent wild species as well as named varieties. In this article we will adhere mainly to the species we like best.

It is perhaps unfortunate that a few of the very loveliest seem to be the hardest to maintain except under near ideal conditions. 1\.mong these are I. a:r>e­ n.ariia from central , a 4 inch golden yellow stoloniferous beauty that opens its flat-falled colours until about noon, then closing with a twisting spiral, unique among irises. The taller 8 inch I . flavissima~ central Europe into eastern Siberia, is identical in colour &""ld growth habits-, blooms even more heavily than I. a:r>ena:r>ia. Both prefer well-drained sandy soil on the south side of the garden where their roo~s can snuggle ·up under some rocks for warmth. Although not too fussy, they do like · a hot dry swmner without too much ·rainfall. There are two· other rather exotic members of this 22 chromosome family. Most unusual for colouration is I. bloudowii, about 6 inches tall, bright yellow with a distinctive black '~cat's whiskers" on the flat falls. We finally found a spot it , liked on the·very .top of the rock garden in nearly pure sand and gravel. Last in this section is a very rare iris from near in eastern Siberia, I . potanini.- While it also has 22 chromosomes, it is not stoloniferous, but contains itself in a neat clump for years. Flowers are the usual bright yellow but larger and wider petaled than the others. For us it has always bloomed down in the narrow grassy foliage. While not a fast increaser, it tends to transplant rather easily and is quite hardy here where the temperature drops below zero each winter. 629

Among the better known 40 chromosome speci es arc two good additions for the rock garden, and two not so good. The best is the true I. ahamaeiris as collected in southern France and northern Ita.ly. The true species is hard to locate and one must beware of many nurseries offeri ng this iris f or sale under certain names . Almost always these are not worth growing in the: rock garden. We have only five varieties that were collected by Dr. Randol ph, Cornell University, back in the 1950 -60s. These are quite short in foliage and bloom stalk, usually 4 t o 6 inches; three are purple and two are yellows. Crossing the two colours gave more purple and yellows with only minor variations in colour and form . These make ideal rock garden subjects and well deserve more attention . Since they are indigenous to the :Mediterranean area, it is wise to mulch when temperatures go int o t he teens.

I . italioa is the second good addition and is a taller version of I . ohamaeiris, growing 8 to 12 inches in good soil. One of the best of these is speoies F1A,a rare yellow mutant collected at Frejus, France. It i s hardy here. The two not-so-good varieties are I. olbiensis and I. viresoens, the l atter from Switzerland. Both are larger flowered and coarser and could only appear in propor tion when planted by u very large rock. I. oZbiensis does have one credit in its ability to r ebloom in l ate summer, and the two- tones blue-purple flower s are interesting at that time. For an unusual colour combo the three forms of I. barthii of Roumania and the Russian Kubam are ideal. The named variety "LAURIN" (Hanselmayer) i s a nine inch tannish flower with·an·electric blue beard for contrast. A fonn from the Russian Kuban has l ovely five inch tall pal e yellow flowers with a greenish spot on the falls and a blue beard. Although t hese varieties have been counted as 36-37 chromosomes, they are fertil e and quite easy to grow. Perhaps a better lmown species i s I . mellita, requiring decent drainage, slight winter protection, and frequent transplanting to new soil. These are 24 chromosome diploids and really not at all hard to increase and maintain, but their col our range is quite limited. The most common species i s a t awny yellow rather heavily l ined in l;>rown, growing about 3 to 4 inches t all. The short leaves are unusually distinctive with their falcate (sickle) shape huggi ng the ground. From aGerman botanical garden we have one form with a greenish-yellow cast, slightly larger in flower. From seeds collected near Konotope, , we have raised one with tawny green flowe.r.~ and a greenish beard. Without doubt the most beautiful I. mellita was r aised from a cr oss of t he yellow form with a purple collected in . It is about 5 inches, a very vibrant rich purple, extremely floriferous. We call it MELLITA AYAZAGA i n honor of the l ocal e from which the original specimen was collected,

A sub-variety of I . meZZita could be the one known as I . rubromarginata. . Distinguished by a red edge to the leaves at certain times in the spring, l ater becoming all green. Flower colour is normally a l ight purple .

Finally we come to t hat group of mini -irises that, in our opinion, are the Royal Pee.rs of the rock garden. I. pumila e.xhib~ts the greatest diversity of colour forms of any species of bearded irises. Extremely f ertile both ways, they are tetraploids od 32 chromosomes · ( f'our sets each of eight) with a f aw of the USSR f orms having only 30 chroxoosomes . So far all the pumilas have an inhibitor for the anthocyanin ( purplE:) pigments of tall bearded irises with which they readily cross to form the well .known "Lilliput Hybrids", 10 to 15 incb clumps of near ideal proportions. A lone specimen from the Island of Crete, CRETICA, a smolcy­ lavender beaut y, when crossed to tall plicat as, does produce irore pli catas thus 630 causing one to think it does NOT have this inhibitor; otherwise the purple plicata marks could not appear.

All other pum:ilas may be easily divided into two separate groups: the Western group generally larger flowered, ,rider petaled, coarser foliage, mre vigorous plants; and the Eastern group with flowers smaller and daintier, sometimes with a long perianth tube, foliage narrow and grassy, plants a little more difficult to keep happy, requiring new soil every year or so .

We d~al first with the Western group - from , Czechoslovakia, , and Yugoslovia. Our special favorite for petal width is a fine vigorous purple from Austria, Al9A . In six years planted in the same garden .spot, it has spread from a foot square t9 .an area of 24 to 36 inches, a very compact mass of , just covered with bloom last april. On the other band Austrian #lOC, a rare white pumila, increases very slowly. We grow two collected pumilas that were fine enough to name: LILABANKA (Kurzmann), an unusual orchid with a white area at the hafts, falls tucked almost completely under; and VINIX)BONA ( Henselmayer), almost alone in its brownish-red tones with blue beard. From Czechoslovakia the best colour a."ld form is Dr. Randolph's 61-73D, collected near Porzdrany. A gorgeous little-thing with flatly flaring falls, a very dark violet self including the beard.

Dr. Milan Blazek (Czechoslovakia) has sent many collected pumilas, among the most unusual being y3K from Konice, a variegata pattern (yellow over brown falls) with a bright orange beard. Yellow or orange beards seem to be rare among pumilas, perhaps a recessive colour. Those pumilas from Yugoslavi a are perhaps the largest flower ed as a whole class. One of the best for floriferousness is Y9C, a shiny wine-toned purple, collected near Belgrade. Serbian S-6 is a very nice dark blue, vigorous and easy. The ones from Hungary are on the borderline between Eastern and.the Western groups. Blazek's orF, collected at Fuzer, is a nice yellow bitone (light yellow standards over darker yellow falls) and has that yellow beard. His MF stands out all alone ,in its colours of blue-gray standards over green-yellow falls and has the tucked- under falls of many of these wild species. Both of these pumilas are more intermediate in size of flower, and very slow to increase • .A.Jro.ng the Eastern Group, two from Bulgaria are worthy of mention. They are VB1,· a light tan variegata and VB2, a darker brown variegata. What makes them so. unique is their tiny size and daintiness, both no more than three inches tall with very short foliage. These are just ideal rock garden subjects •

. The pumilas from Roumania known as I . pumila var. heZiotropii · certainly takes precedance for garden fragrance, and are quite vigorous, easy to grow and maintain. We have three forms. ·a11 purples, in a garden about two feet by six feet. They· are so fragrant that down wind they perfume an area 20 to 30 feet distant. We strongly urge gardeners to try these pum:ilas •. One more Romanian worth mention is sub- variety I . suaveole.n.s, with yellow st~q.ards and brownish- red falls edged in yellow plus. · a bright yellow beard. This one is quite short and neat. --

Finally we come to those pum:ilas from the USSR, probably our favorites; From Dr. Randolph's collection is Rl5J, a super-clean greenish toned yellow that blooms heavily . .Also the small flowered, six inch tall RJ2, a medium violet colour which collected in Armenia nea1· the Turkish border. From seeds sent us from a Russian Botanical Garden we have grown e most distinctive strai:;:i in-rosy-lavender tones, some with nearly maroon falls edged in the closest to pink we have seen in pumilas. The beards in most cases are blue to lavender, a few white. They grow up to six inches on long perianth tubes, all small flowered, their one fault being a lack of vigor~ very slow to increase. 631

I. tauriea3 USSR, is seemingly a sub-variety of I. pwnil~aving the usual chromosome count, but leaves much wider and blunt tipped. We have seen only purple forms so far but hope to grow more colours from seed. M?st unusual is their long slender perianth tube, sometimes reaching to six inches, flowers being small in size, In the I. pwnila family it is normal for seed pods to set directly on the ground, but in these with longer tubes, we have found pods one to two inches above ground level.

To sunnnarize - all the miniature iris herein will do well in a sandy soil or loam, should be fertilized with 6-24-24 just after their early blooming and perhaps again in mid-summer, and replanted every two or three years in fresh soil. Since . they are very shallow rooted, mulching over winter may help prevent frost heaving in spring thaws. A f ew may still heave out of the ground in spite of all care. These may be handled best by keeping handy a large bucket of small pea sized rocks and sand to throw around and under the rhizomes. With our hundreds of wild species we have this problem every year but seldom lose many. We garden in the midwestern U.S. at 40° latitude where temperatures range each yea:r from the low 90s to - 10° F. Join the fun in growing the wild species irises. Then you may want to try hybridizing with them and producing your own line of novelities. New colours are constantly showing in our pumila seedli~gs, the newest being dark maroon- reds with yellow beards, white standards over blue falls edged white, etc . We are always looking for cleaner colours, better forms, and VIGOR!

The foregoing, written by Eca>Z Roberts of Indianapolis, who died in 19??, origina.7:ly appeca>ed in the Bulletin of the American Rock Garden Society. It has also been reprinted .in News and Views, Feb. ·- Mar. 19?8. It is reprinted here from the Newsletter of the Empire State Iris Society (Region 2, A.I.S. ) Spring issue , 1978 . **********

SEED EXCH,':\NGE For the past six years Jean Whitt has most ably operated the SEED EXCHANGE . She took over from Ruth Hardy, our first Director, with the No. 9 issue of SIGNA in April, 1972. Now the time has arrived for another change of Director nnd this time the IRIS SOCIETY OF MINNESOTA has offered share the job among some of its members with 11ARY DUVALL, Rt. 1, Box 142, Dassel, MN 55325, acting as Director and Post Box for all seed exchange business. Seeds should be sent to her at the above address, as well as enquiries for the list of seeds currently available . There is still an urgent need for more species, especially those collected from the wild and the hand crossed ones from your gardens. Most types are sold out each yeax, with only the most common kinds remaining. Even these are not wasted as they are used as gifts and handouts at shows and meetings such as the AIS Conventions to encourge interest in our species group. And it works!. New members have been obtained this way and interest generated.

Contrary to the experience of most 1r1s societies, the SPECIES GROUP is doing well financially and one of the primereasons is the income derrived from the Seed Exchange. It covers the expense of one i ssue per year of SIGNA and the rest comes from membership dues. The se dues have not changed for the past few yeaxs and at $J .OO per year are most modest. Incidently, there is no thought of anv need to change them in the foreseeable future as long as the seed exchange remains healthy and the present arrangements for printing SIGNA can continue. So send in as many seeds as you can and keep the SPECIES GROUP a going concern. ********** 632

SOME NOTES FROM THE RETIRING SECRETARY-TREASURER Homer Metcalf

The _time for the Changing of the SIGNA Guard is here! Your Secretary-Treasurer is among the changes, and, after 6 years Ln the office, I'll be relinguishing my duties to a very well-qualified successor, }Jh·s. Grace Carter, 1212 Tucker Road, Hood River, Oregon 97031, about the time you read this. All correspondence about dues and SIGNA publications should be sent to her. Grace will be on a trip to Japan during much of October, so I'd suggest you not write her until toward the first of November. Up to that ti.me, I 1 ll continue to seek to serve your needs.

During my term of office, I've made many new and lasting acquaintances in. the international iris world and I hope that correspondence with them will continue, even though I expect to retire from Montana University next spring after 32 years as .. a professor of Horticulture. My post-retirement plans are still fluid, i.e., I'm keeping my options open, but hope · to continue contributing to the well being of SIGNA in one way or another.

We. have a loyal and devoted membership, with many of the members actively engaged in advancing the _.frontiers of plant breeding via their work with species irises . .As new knowledge of the species becomes available, it is rapidly being put to work in development of new and improved ir_ises for the 8mbellishment of gardens and parks. We can look forward with anticipation to the potential reopening .of to botanical exploration at some future date, and increased and improved taxonontlc cytological studies on the large number of species occurring in the Soviet Union which have ,been rather poorl~ ur1derstood in years past. 111ere is even one beardless _·. spec~es in the southeastern plain of the United States for which the ·chromosome number is still unlmown! It's a pleasure to report t o you that SIGNA is in sound financial condition and that, for the foreseeable future, our Editor will not have to worry about whether we can afford to publish a fat issue of SIGNA when the material for one is available. That is, unless inflation rises again into the realm of double-digit values) and the Seed Exchange falls upon hard times.

We have about 200 members, scattered well over the World, and a very interesting and enterprising bunch they are. Your Executive only wishes they were m:ire inclined to write about their activities ·for the benefit of other members wi~h perhaps less experience in growing and breeding the species. Bruce Richardson would be only too happy if :rou would do so !

.Although Roy Davidson has retired as Chairman, you'll still be hearing from him, as he's agreed to ~Tite a series of species sketches for publication in the AIS Bulletin, thus bringing his extensive knowledge to the attention of a wide audience of potentiai·species fa..~s. It's with a certain note of sadness that I bid you all au revoir, but also with a strong note of·confidence that your nevv executives are very well-qualified indeed to serve in the advancement of studies and culture of species irises.

********** ... _.. • 633 SPEC IES IRIS GROUP OF NOR TH AMEPICA Operati ng Financial Statement 12 October 1977 - 12 October 1978

RECEIPTS : Balance, 12 October 1977 $ 219 .46 Membership dues r eceived ( all expiry dates) 949 .35 S;ues of publications 212 .64 Proceeds of 1977 Seed Exchange (Jean Witt) J66.00 Return of Seed Exchange Revolving Fund (Witt) 125 .00 Transfer from Savings Reserve 60.00

GROSS RECEIPTS $ 1,932. 25

EXPENDI TURES: Publications costs: SIGNA 19 (B. Richardson, ed. ) $ JOO.SJ SIGNA 20 (B. Richardson, ed. ) 250.00 ' $ 550.83 Purchase of publications for resale 24 . 37 Transfers to AIS * JJ.40 Office expense, Secy.-Treas. 49.00 Transfer s to Savings Reser ve Fund 29 June 1978 $ 300.00 15 August 1978 100.00 400.00 Establishing of Revolving Funds: Seed Exchange Director (Wiary Duvall) 150.00 Editor (B . Richardson) 350.00 GROSS EXPENDITURES $1,557.60

Balance, 12 October 1978 $ 374.65

* The item, "Tranfers to AIS", covers remittances of foreign correspondents

who wished to se.nd only one financial instrument to cover. a .variety of vrapts, including AIS membership and publi cations.

**~·******* 634

LETTERS

Pete Stadl e r , 940 W. Ma~isbn St., Pontiac, Ill . 6 1 764 MY" interest in species seems eternal. It is nice to know they are receiving some attention along with other wildings. To much is being lost to development

The challenge of making many of them happy in central Illinois is exciting, and success with~ good share of them is possible. The information with SIGNA and the SEED EXCHANGE makes a good arrangement for amateurs such as I to gather a magnificient array of plants.

Samuel F. Si pe 1 Kinneagh, The Curragh, Co. Kildare, Erie •• ••. One tlling you might find of interest is how we have managed the "weed problem". First, we sterilize the soil chemicaD.y, then spread a half inch or so of fine peat moss . 'fhis we spray with a v.realc solution of Simazine. The peat moss seems to hold the:· Sima.zine, as when we scrape it aside v,re can plant directly into the soil. This has eliminated the bulk of the weeding. . . . • . ·

Dr. Virginia L . Winkler, 670 St.r Deerfield, Ill. 60015 (Letter to Romer Metcalf) ... . . I read your letter concerning your retirement with mixed emotions . I am happy for you that you now will be able to do all or most of the things you have so long wished to do, but please reassure me that this do&sn't mean we are going to lose you from SIGNA . Without you in the scene there would be a terrible void .

• . . . • Just this fall I got a couple of plants from Mr. Meek in California, which are supposed to be crosses of pseu.daoorus and PCN iris. At this time they are growing well for me, but we will have to see how they go through the spring. Late spring is when I lose all my PC!~ irises. They make it tbroug,.½. the winter in good style, only to poop out in spring. I suspect our soil may be lacking a symbiotic fungus to help the root system take in nutrients from the soil.

Mrs. Robert F o Wil kins Sr. , 7 5 3€ Waupun Rd. , Oshkosh, Wis. 5 4 g·o 1 . •.. . Nirs . Witt was so kind and helpful . ...• I have never met her, but from all I have read about her, she appears to be a very wonderful person. She inspired my interest in the species and I sent her a cheque for which she sent ple.nts to help me get. started. 1~ interests are sort of divided, but centerec. mostly on the dwarf bearded an~_the siberia.ns . •.. . The Dykes original prL~ts are in the United States for special ·showings, and I understand our local curator has located them, but we still do not lmow if they will be available to us .•.•• Since I am still relatively "new" in the iris field I 'm not sure just when our native iris will bloom. I have found I. versiaoZor in marshy areas in the central part of Wisconsin (Portage Cow1ty), which is quite different from the ones I found in our pasture ..••.Also I have a clump of Sisrinchiwn augustifoZiwn in my garden which starts blooming about mid- June and continues all summer intermittantly. The individual flowers don't last very long, about four hours, but there were still buds in early October when I collected a bit of the seed . .... I scattered it in a starter row, ,iust before the ground froze, and covered it with straw as soon as the forst measured an inch deep. Some authorities say it should be 2" deep before the straw goes on .• .•• much snow .... most of the garden underJ- 5' deep of snow . 635 Mrs. Marl ene Ahlburg, Hohes Feld 22, 3171 Roigesbuttel, West . ••• •As you know, Eckard Berlin colchicined I. pseudaaorus . When we were at the annual meeting of the Deutsche Iris und Liliengesellschaft, the Iris Section met at the same time' in the same place in the Berlin Botanical Gardens. The best thing in the iris competion was an enormous bunch of Eckard's tetraploid plant of I. pseudacorusl The flowers of the plants differ a bit in the signal, but each one is beautiful orange yellow, with improved substance, and the single flower is larger · than that of the diploid species. In spite of these flowers, it is still quite I. pseudaaorus. We could see the difference between the diploid and tetraploid plants at once, as we had 8lIX>ng a lot of the species in the competition several I. pseudaaorus. Sam Norr is, R.Ro 2, Owensboro, Ken. 42301 • . •• . The cross of X Pax>danaanda has almost run out for me due to lack of fertility. Last year there were probably ten blooms pollenated for every seed sent to the seed exchange. This year, to try and pick up some increase in the fertility, they were all back-crossed to dichotoma.. Just about all the crosses produced pods, but so far there has been no good seed. Freeman Yendall counted the original cross as a . tetraploid with 32 chromosomes. The plants I'm growing now from tetraploids treated with clochicine, and while I've never been able to count 64 chromosomes with the slides I've made, they do count 60 plus . Evidently the tets and the octoploids don't want to cross. A few years back a few seeds were produced by back-crossing to the tet x Pazidancanda, but they were very weak growing. My experience has been that the less the seedlings look like either of the parents plants or to the F plants, the .less li~ely they are to set seed. 1

Grace Carter, 1212 Tucker Road, Hood River, Oregon 97_031 As Roy Davidson was unable to visit the gardens during the AIS Convention in San Jose, he has asked me to write about the species iris seen on the garden tours. I wish I could give you a detailed report, but covering a subject simply from memory will not be as good as if I were forewarned and taking notes. There was one lovely clump labeled I. aonfusa in Lewis and Adele Lawyer's garden in Oakland that was blooming well. Other than that, -U,ie only species that I noticed were the native iris in the Coleman garden and the hybrids -of the Calif­ .. ornicae in the Lawyer garden and at Joe Ghio's. . The hybrids and named varieties of these native iris were lovely, and I partic- ·-·u1arly noticed Soq_uel Cove in Mr. and Mrs. Lawyer's gar den and a nioe red of Joe ' Ghio's called City Hall. City Hall is a neat well-proportioned flower with intense red colour and Sequel Cove was a taller white, with a lovely blue flush on the falls that showed the influence of I . munzii. · - Mr . and Mrs. Ralph Coleman liYe in the mountains no:r:th and east of Santa Cr uz . The native irises growing there are believed to be either I . douglasiana, I . fernal4ii and I . macrosip1um or combinations of any or all of them. When a group of species enthusiasts hired a bus and visited the Coleman garden after the Berkeley Convention in 1968 there was only the barn on the property, surrounded by woods, vines and iris. · Now they have built a home and have planted several gardens. In one large. area they have removed a lot of the competition and left the native iris in their natural setting. Since there are so many factors in the make- up of these iris, they are varied in colour and are lovely to behold. As we entered the property there was a clump of I. munzii growing under a tree, surely a treat for those of us who have only heard about the lovely blue colour. ********** 636

GROWING IRIS SPECIES IM AL/~BAMA Marie R. MoGhee

For several years now I have been growing iris species . I joined the Species Study Group to learn as much as I could about the different kinds of iris and how to grow them.

BEAIµ)EJ? IRIS: I have tried growing I. aphyZZa with no success: It grew one season, failed to bloom and then did not come back the following spring. The simpl y vanished. Several years ago I obtained I. imbrioata. by purchase. It grew well and bloomed, set seed and then dried up. I did manage to get t he seed pod, which wa.s nearly ripe . I planted the seed immediately; the germ­ ination was about half of the seeds planted. I planted them out this spring, but have lo·st the plants one by one to rot. Rot has been bad this year in the tall bearded beds, but I did not realize that I. imbrioata could rot. For two seasons I have been growing I. iUyrioa. It has bloomed each spring with one bloom stalk and seems not to be multiplying. Perhaps it will do better this year. I have been growing I. paUida (lavender) along with some varieties that ar e very common in this locality. I think one of these varieties is I. koohiiJ but I ' m not sure. There i s one variety t hat appears to be an intermediate - medium blue standards and da~ker · blue falls, with a white beard. There are two other bitones of unknown i _dentity. These "native" types do well and bloom year after year, even in wooded areas. I obtained an iris identi f ied as I . germanica., white with very narrow standards and f alls, approximately l" wide. It is multiplying, but I don ' t believe it is properly named. Several year~ ago I acquired I. variegata. It grew year after year, not multiplying or blooming . Finally it bloomed very late in this season. I had quite forgotten that I had it.

BEARDLESS IRIS: The first time I planted I. forresti and I . wiZsonii they were lost during the winter due to heaving (or per haps other causes). I replanted them last f all and this spring they are growing well. Several varieties of Siberians were lost this past winter - I. bulleyana and I . orientalis of .undetermined causes . . My adventur.e in trying Cal Sibes was successful with Swirling Mi.st, but a failure with .tw9 others., They were · not happy. Perhaps I shall try again later. Swirling Mist took two seasons to bloom, but it is ru.1 i nter_esting flower and v.:orth waiting for. From -seeds obtained through the seed exchange I have had mostly poor results (porbably due to my ·inexper ience or methods of germination). I have been disappointed that the P~cific Coast speci es have proven so difficult to urge to germinate. · If one .~r. two·germinate from a planting, I feel as though I have conquer ed a most r eluc­ tant dragon. Ever so slowly, my rather small numbers of Pacific Coast species have been growing, mul ti.i;,lying and blooming. The t ransplantation of purchased plants has been).9:iiccessful to some degree, but they are slow in growing. The increases ar~ h~_?-,rteI)ing,_ s.ince the weather becomes baking hot for weeks at a time . I have planted them ·in l1ght shade on a hill. Over a period of time and with patience I should be able to enlarge my plantings.

Th~ seeds of ·I: prismatiaa have given me about 8 delightful plants. I have them in an area with other water loving plants so that· r can keep them moist during the summer heat. This spring the prismatica bloomed for the first time. I have one that. is almost white., with 8. pink-lavender infusion. I feel that they will do well. 637

This spring (March 1978) I received seeds of cZarikei-deZavayi. I planted them soon after receipt and fotmd that I had almost 100% germination within a very few . weeks. I have already planted them in the garden and I hope that by careful water­ ing I will not lose them. I. foetidissima (yellow seeded variety) took from March until nearly the end of May to germinate·. It appears that I have at least six plants growing at the moment. If growth is promising, I shell plant them out towards the fall; if not, I'll overwinter them in a cold frame. The I . tectorum (Taiwan) seeds have given me five plants. The seeds germinated after six weeks or so and grew to four leaves by mid May, • They are now in the garden in a half shaded area. I am anxious to see how this variety· differs from the I. tectorum that I have been growing. Both the white and lavender tectorum grow very well. The seeds germinate well. I have been growing them for four seasons with good increase. I have given many plants to admiring people. It is an enchant­ ing plant, one of the iris highlights each spring. Last year I received I. versicolor (white) seeds. I did not get many pl~ts, · but they shoula be ready to bloom next spring (1979). I obtained a blue versicolor plant from a nursery and it bloomed this year for the first time. There are many seeds and I hope to plant some. I . virginica seeds have _been coming up since April. . The last I counted, there were ten plants. I don't know ~f the seeds come true to colour, in this case white. By next season, some of these plants should be.blooming. ~ . ... ' ' ' For the. first timi my I. tridentata bloomed. It is currently blooming (June 18th) and multiplying. I procured this plant from Laurie's Garden. Two irises were given to me by one of our Iris Society members, ·Margaret Connally. She dug up what appears to be a light lavende~-blue versicolor. It was found in North Alabama growing in a moist area. I assune it is native to this area. The second plant turned out to be I. brevicaulis, a· lovely, large medium light blue flower. This was also growing in a moist area. Two irises are very prolific seeders: pseudacorus and setosa (blue). I. ps~­ acorus would no doubt take over every inch of a garden if allowed=to:· · It has to be strictly monitored. There is just so much space one can give to this plant. The setosa seeds were not especially planted, nor amy special attempt ·made to grow them. I notice that the~e are a dozen or so seedlings growing around the mother plant; I am fond of this. setosa (obtained originally from the .Northwest Hybridizers, Jean Witt). ·r have tried to grow a :dY(arf setosa (white) from seeds obtained from "the seed exchange,. - ~~ ~ar no germination. Perhaps, for all their prolific seeding, they are slow to ·germinate. Or they will need to go through the winter before any results are achieved.

I am saving several packeti:: of Pacific Coast Natives to plant directly to the grc,und this fall. I know from previous plantings that much time will elapse before any results can be expected.

ED: Thanks Marie for a most interesting report on you:r> results in germinating seeds from the seed exchange. Your editor only 1uishes many more of ov..r member>s would take the time to white of their> results, as this is valuable information to both ow> members and youi? Executive in determim:ng the value of the· seed exchange. ********** 638 BREEDING EXPER I ENCES WITH Iris attioa of Dave _Niswonger, Eckard & Al 1fotsch \ Roy ·oa.vid6on.

(We. 1te.a.d .ln. a. c.onven.:U.o11. 1te.p0Jt:t 06 Va.ve; ,.s wollk. w.UJi :t:Ju6 .tipec..lu; At tWtote. hi..m, and · 6f'LOm.~JU6 lefteM ~ ha.6 exc.VLpte.d the. 6oilaW-U1.9 . ) ......

• ' J ,· "When in 1969 I no"t'iced th.at Al Motsch of Chicago had registered a seedling of pseudaaorus as 'Fatima', I wrote.·him about it and in due course received some seed from the plant.. . I w~s particularly interested because 'Fatima' was said to be ivory coloured and i wanted to try for a white one. "

. '~In '. .197-f thi~_ty s~edlings flower~d, three of them ivory and the others all various shad~s. of yellow. I saved two of the yellows which were much the best of t he ioufor branchi~g~ bud-count and vigor. The best ivory I numbered 35-71 and from i t grew--:350 seedlings; they first flowered in 1973. That year 28 flowered 'j,-vory and and the following year 3 or 4 ' niore showed. up.n

"The question also came to mind as to whether 1 might get any ivory out of the best yellow, which I had numbered 36-71, and so I also grew 350 seedlings from that. When they flowered i n 1973, all were yellow, not a singl e ivory, though there was ivory in their background . Since I . pseudacorus is diploid, I presume that the seedling 36-71 had the factor for yellow in both sets of chFomosomes, and naturally all the results wer e yellow •." ...... ,. "Out of the 28 ivory seedlings obtained .in 1973, I saved seed and planted j approximate ly another 250 seedlings; several have flowered ivory, but so far none are white . To this poi nt I have not had the time to continue on with another generation in order to further search for white. Perhaps someone else has been working along the same lines and will have some sugge~tions or connnents or ·results from their efforts to report."

!And now c.omu the. Jc.e.poJt;t 6Mm Ge1tma.ny :that Ec.kaltd BeJLU.n in WOil.tung w.l:th t~-­ pto.ld pseudacorus • •• "6ound &e.e be.a.u:ti.6u£ wlu:te. on~.' • • pMba.b£.y :te;tJutpf.o.ld. ")

Some years ago Al Motsch wr·ote of a selection he had made in the course of his work with pseudaoorus ; he called it 'Vim an.d Vigor'. "The firs t flowering of the seedling was four s talks, rather heavy, and opening top, middle and at the bottom at the same time, fol iage narrower than most and rather untidy looking. This plant produced 1300 seeds . " Some of the s eed was sent along; vim and vigor indeed! **********

ILLUSTRATI ONS OF WEST HIM~LA YA N FLOWER I NG PLANTS ,.,. M.A. ...Raa. ;

Botanical Survey of India, 14 Madan St. , Calcutta. 1963, by Government of India

p . 20: l'Anyone who has trekked in western Hi malaya cannot have failed to noti~e the purple-flowered herb, Iria kumaeonensis Wall, (fig. 53), occurring in large colonies on grassy slopes from 2500 to LiOOO metres, ,'fhE:}_r:oot~ .an

V. I. Grubov

During investigation of genus Iris L. for the publication of the "Plants of Central Asia" it was found necessary to make certain changes in the presently accepted treatment of a number of species of ,this genus. Among these species occurred ones which are distributed on the USSR territory. Below are given results of a revision of the position of these species.

1. I. ensata auct.

I. ensata Thunb. was described by Thunberg (1794) from Japan and not from China, as it was asserted by P. P. Poljakov (1950), and corre­ sponds to.!_. kaempferi Sieb., however Thunberg's binominal has priority. This fact was long ago established and taken into consideration by Japanese botanists (Koidzumi, 1925; Makino and Nemoto, 1931 ; Ohwi, 1965). However, for certain reasons, this fact was ignored in our domestic taxonomic literature where, as before, Thunberg's binominal is being mistakenly referred to the continental saline soils (Solonchak) irises. There are no such irises in Japan. K. I. Maximowicz, even in 1880, expressed his doubt about relation of.!_. ensata to the continental Solonchak irises, however retained their name . P. P. Poljakov, who attempted unsuccessful revision of.!_. ensata, also made the same mistake.

Considering the taxonomic position of the continental Solonchak irises, it should be mentioned that the closest solution of this problem was made by Maximowicz (1880). He separated "I. ensata" into two basic varieties: (a) those which have wide lobes of-perianth, with outer ones always blunt and considerably wider than inner ones, (b) those which have narrow lobes of perianth and vary only slightly in width.

The study of the available material showed that the first variety of these irises has wide, oval, and closely pointed capsules and has violet or pale-violet and sometimes white perianth. The second variety has narrow, spindle-like or long-cylindrical and sharply extended capsule and blue colored perianth (at least its outer lobes). It was also found that the first variety occurs i n the northern steppes and desert areas from the eastern Dunbay to eastern and the second occurs further south from the Korean peninsula through northern and northwestern China, Tibet, and Sintzian to Kashmir and the Pamiro-Alti areas. It means that we are dealing with two closely related and geographically displaceable one another (? separated) species. Their ranges only slightly come in contact with one another (in inner and Tzinkhai). Both of these varieties were described several times; however, up to the present time, their classification by taxonomists and florists was rather confusing. This confusion is also due to the fact that the first variety (Northern) varies greatly in some of its characters and some futile attempts were made to divide it further. The height of flower

*Original.ly published (in Russian) in Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Institute of Botany. Taxonomical News Pertaining to the Higher Plants. 6:30-37, 1970. Translation by Dr. M. M. Afanasiev, Sun City, Arizona. 640

stalk of the firs t or.e ,·arics f:·c,m 3-5 to more than 30 cm , and may be either shorter or highe1· than its l eaves. However, the height of a s talk has no relation to t he geogr aphical distribution and apparently depends on the environment al conditions and mainly on moisture and compos ition of soils. Plants with higher flower stalks and those with s horter t han l eaves are distribut ed evenly in the Altai area, Kazakhstan, east of Ba ikal Lake, and in Mongolia. However it must be noted that the height of flowering stalk in the second variety also is not constant, a lthough usuall y it is higher than leaves. Also, one could find plants with ver y short flowering stalk which are similar to those of the first variety. They occur in t he Ordose , Tz inkhai , and Kashgari. Also there is considerable variation in the length and width of leaves and in the intens ity of color of periant h . Because of the unstable characters, as it was noted by Maximowicz, i t is possible to determine only the extremely typical r e presentati ves of these varieties . Nost of them have rather transitional characters. His first variety, (a), he s e parated into: (1) plants with stems 1 f0ot or higher and higher than leaves , I . pallasii Fisch. and by mistake also i ncluded ! · fragrans Lindl. ; (2) Plants with stems shor ter than 1 foot and only slightly higher than leaves, I. biglumis Vahl.

P. P. Poljakov in his work in separation of".!.· ensata" used not only t he height of the flowering stalk, but a lso the shape of s eeds . However , Solonchak i rises show great varia tion of seeds in the same capsule. The outer seeds are either round or round-tetrahedral and seeds in t he cent er of the capsule are either pinched or tabloid . Their colora tion and gloss depends on the degree of their r ipening . Ac cording to our observations shape and color of seeds cannot be used for separa­ tion of Mongolo-Siberian Solonchak i r is into several species. L. P . Sergievskaia (1961) arrived a t the same conclusion , saying, "tha t it is possible to r ecognize as separate species only the East-Asian I . ensata Thunb. and the Mongolo-Siber ian .!· biglumis Vahl."

As f ar a s nomenclature of tliese p lants i s concerned, it is known that the Mongolo- Siberian Solonchak i ris was first legally described by Pallas in 1776 from plants found on desert shores of the Lake Tarey in Dauria as.!_. lactea Pal l . He descr ibed t he new species as a white flowering kind of iris which sometimes i s f ound together with.violet­ flowered irises , which he condi tionally r eferred to as .!· an spuria?. In describing I . l actea he noted that this species, with t he excepcion of the color of perianth and some other minor details is in al l other charac ters , so s imila~ to !· an spur ia? that i t is possibl e to consider it only as a variety of the last one. A picture of.!_. an spuria? in Pallas ' work does not leave any doubt that it is either.!_. biglumis Vahl. or I . ensata auct . In Dauri a and in all of southern Siberia is present only one Solonchak type of iris and..!_. lactea Pall. and.!.· an s puria ? should be referred only to this type of iri s. This was the reason why these irises were referred as synonymous (with question mark or without it) either t o ..!_. biglumis Vahl. (Ledebour , 1853) or to ..!_. ensata auct. (Dykes, 1913; Fedchenko, 1935; and others) . Maximowicz also considered it a s a synonym of I . ensata, but for some reason, not together with .!· an spur ia? Pall. and _!. biglumis Vahl., of his f irst variety, (a) , but to his second variety, (b) , to I . ensata var. chinensis Maxim. (= .!_. oxypetala Bunge) which certainly was not correct. However , 641 according to the Codex of Botanical Nomenclature the binomial.!_. lactea Pall. has priority. The Japanese botanist Koidzumi (1925) already restored this name, although he had no followers. Later on this species was described as I. triflora Balb. (1804) and as I. biglumis Vahl. (1806) and its tall stemmed form from Alti area a"s .!_. pallasii Fisch. (1821) and as.!_. iliensis Poljak. from Seven Rivers area.

Nomenclatural history of the second Solonchak iris is simpler than the first one. This iris was correctly described by Bunge as an inde­ pendent species,.!_. oxypetala Bunge, in 1832, collected by him in the vicinity of Peking. The type is present in Botanical Herbarium Acad. of Sciences USSR in Leningrad. Ten years earlier this species was illustra­ ted in a good picture in 1822 (Bot. Mag., tab. 2381) as_!.. pallasii $. chinensis Fisch. However, the species name "chinensis" was also used in relation to other species (1794; 1823). Later on this species was again described as_!.. fragrans Lindl. (1840) and as_!.. moorcroftii W~ll. (1841) from the Himalayas.

Below are given nomenclatural summaries for all three species considered:

Iris ensata Thunb. 1794, Trans . Linn. Soc. London 2:328; Koidz. 1925, Bot. Mag. Tokyo 39:300; Makino & Nemoto, 1931, Fl. Jap., 1590; Ohwi, 1965, Fl. Jap., 316. _!.. kaempferi Sieb. ex Lemaire, 1858, Ill. Hortic. 5: tab. 157; Dykes, 1913, Gen. Iris, 74; B. Fedch, 1935, Fl. USSR 4:525; Vorobiev, 1966, Ident. Plants of Coastal Areas of Pacific Ocean and Amur Area:128; Vorosh., 1966, Fl. Soviet Far East:128 I. laevigata var. kaempferi Maxim., 1880, Bull. Acad. Sci. Petersb. 26:521- Icon.: Ill. Hortic • . 5:tab. 157; Gartenfl. 1864:tab. 442, 1880:tab. 1773 (sub nom. _!.. laevigata).

Described from Japan, the type is in Uppsala (UPS). Occurs along coastal meadows in Japan, on peninsula of Korea, in northeastern China, in the Soviet Far East and Amur area and on the Kurile Islands.

Iris lactea Pall. 1776, Reise Russ. Reich 3:713; Koidz. 1925, Bot. Mag. Tokyo 39:300, excl. var. _!.. triflora Balb. 1804, Misc. Bot. 1:6, tab. 1 • ..!.· biglumis Vahl, 1806, Enum. Pl. 2:149; Ledeb. 1853, Fl. Ross. 4:95; Kitag. 1939, Lin. Fl. Mansh.:146. Poljak. 1950, Bot. Mat. (Leningrad) 12:90; Grub. 1955, Consp. Fl. MHP:96; Serg. 1961, in Kryl. Fl. West. Siberia _12:3207. _!.. biglumis var. lactea Turcz. 1856, Fl. Baic.-Dahur. 2, 2:195 • ..!.· lactea var. biglumis Koidz. 1930, Fl. Symb. Or.-as:48. _!.. pallasii Fisch. 1821, in Trev. Ind. Sem. Horti Vratisl.; Reichb. 1827, Iconogr. Bot. 5:47; Bunge, 1836, Verzeichn.: 7; Poljak. 1950, Cytol. Work.:89; Grub. 1955, Cytol. Work.:97. _!.. haematophylla Link, 1821, Enum. Pl. Horti Bot. Berol. 1:60, non Fisch. 1823; Poljak. 1958, Fl. Kazakhst. 2:238. _!.. iliensis Poljak. 1950, Bot.· Mat. (Leningrad) 12:88; Poljak. 1958, Cytol. Work.:236 _!.. an spuria? Pall. 1. c.:713: _!.. ensata auct. non Thunb.:Maxim. 1880, Bull. Acad. Sci. Petersb. 26:512, pro var. A, excl. syn._!.. fragrans Lindl.; id. 1880, Works of Petersburg's Bot. Gard. 6, 2:496, p. max. p.; Forbes & Hemsl. 1903, Ind. Fl. Sin. 642

Siberia 3: 602; B. Fedch. 1935 , Fl . USSR 4 :518 , p. max. p.--Icon.: Pall. 1 . c. :tab. C, fig. 1 (sub nom . !· an spuria?); Reichb . 1. c. 5 : tab. 497, fig. 627 (sub nom. !· pallasii; Fl. Kazakhst. 2 : tab . 23, fig. 1 (sub nom. !· haematophylla) fig. 3 (sub nom. ! · iliensis) .

Described f rom Dauria (around Lake Tarey). The type is either not saved, or possibly is present in London (BM). Distributed on Solonchak soils from the northwestern border of Dunbay along the southern steppes of Siberia, in all Mongolia, Tsindam, Tsinkhy, Dzhungary and the Seven Rivers area.

Iris oxypetala Bunge, 1832, Pl . China Bor .:63, non C. A. Mey. 1834. I. fragrans Lindl. 1840, Bot. Reg. 26 : tab. 1. !· moorcroftii Wall. ex D. Don, 1841, Trans . Linn. Soc. London 18:315; Introd . 1941, Fl. Uzbekist. 1:507; the same, 1963, Fl. Tadzh. SSR 2:378 . ! · pallasii e. chinensis Fisch. ex Sims, 1822, Bot. Mag. 49:tab. 2331. I. ensata var. chinensis Maxim. 1880, Gartenfl. :161; id. 1880, Bull. Acad. Sci. Petersb. 26:514, excl. syn. I. lactea Pall. I. lactea var. chinensis Koidz. 1925; Bot . Mag. Tokyo 39 :300. I. ensata auct. non Thunb .: Maxim. 1880, Works of Petersb. Bot. Gar d . 6, 2 :496, p . min. p.; Boiss. 1884, Fl. Or. 5:127, excl. syn . nonn.; Hook, f . 1894, Fl. Brit. Ind. 6:272 , excl . syn. nonn.; Forbes & Hems!. 1903, Ind. Fl. Sin. 3:81, p. p.; Dykes , 1913, Gen. Iris: 85 p.p.; B. Fedch. 1935, Fl. USSR 4:518, p. min. p .; Poljak. 1950, Bot. Mat. (Leningrad) 12:88; Vorobiev, 1966, !dent. plants of coastal area of Pacific Ocean and Amur Area:128; Vorosh. 1966, Fl. Soviet Far East:128 . ! · pallasii auct. non Fisch.; Kitag . 1939, Lin . Fl. Mansh. :148 . --Icon. : Fisch. ex Sims, 1. c. (sub nom. _!. pallasii e. chinensis Fisch.); Lindl., 1. c . (sub nom. !· fragrans Lindl.); Maxim. 1880, Gartenfl.:tab. 1011 (sub nom . I . ensata var. chinensis Maxim.)

Described from northern China (outskirts of Peking) , the type is in Leningrad (LE) . Distributed on Solonchak soils from the southern Ussuri area, the peninsula of Korea and the eastern Dunbay through northern, northwestern and southwestern China, , Tzinkhay , Tibet, Kashgar ia, Dzhungaria and up to Kashmir and Pamiro-Alti.

2. Iris flavissima Pall.

From the very brief and superficial diagnosis of I. G. Georgi (177 5 :196) of " angustifolia lutea . . . " it is impossible to determine which of the two small yellow-flowered irises growing in the Irkutsk area he had in mind , i . e ., l · flavissima Pall. or!· potaninii Maxim. No samples or pictures of Georgi's plants were saved. Conse­ quently I . humilis Georgi is nomen dubium and E. G. Bobrov ' s suggestion (1960) to accept this name instead of!· flavissima Pall. because of its priority is inappropriate. It is probably more correct to assume, that Georgi ' s _!. humilis was not !· flavissima Pall . , but ! · potaninii Maxim ., which is a rosette-like stemless plant. Pallas (1776) gives correct and sufficiently complete description of his species and noted its differ­ ence from the other closely related Trans-Baikal yellow-fl owered, but much smaller iris (i.e., I. potaninii Maxim.), which he mistakenly took 643

for I. pumila L. Besides this, Pallas' description is supplemented by a reference to the picture of this species by Gmelin (1747) and it excludes any other interpretation. Ugrinski (1911) without any basis, attributed to Pallas wide distribution of this species in close proximity with the European species.!.• arenaria Waldst et Kit . This is excluded by the original description of I. flavissima Pall. and also by the above­ mentioned picture and Pallas' remark, that he did not find this species further west than the outskirts of the city of Irkutsk.

In general, it must be mentioned that restoration in rights of forgotten nomenclature names in works of Linne's period on the basis of their temporary priority cannot be made without careful taxonomic analysis of the group to which they were referred.

M. G. Popov's (1957:208) assumption that I. flavissima is distributed only west of the Baikal area and is closely related to.!.• potaninii Maxim. in the area east of Baikal and to_!_. tigridia Bunge in Dauria does not correspond to the actual picture. T. flavissima can be found in the area from Alti throughout all forest-steppes area of Siberia (including area east of Baikal and Dauria) and northern Mongolia up to Dunbay • .!.· potaninii is found in the area west of Baikal (it was described from there) and the east of Baikal and in Dauria.!.· tigridia is found east of the Baikal area and in Dauria. His supposition about possible confusion in nomenclature of these species is also not correct. His assumption "that.!.• potaninii and.!.· tigridia originated as hybrids from crossing of_!,. arenaria x .!.· ruthenica" does not have any serious basis. I . arenaria sensu M. Pop.= I. flavissima Pall. and belongs to the section Pogoniris, but_!,. ruthenica Ker-Gawl. belongs to the section Apogon. They are also separated ecologically, i . e., the first one occurs in steppe areas and the second one in forest areas. In addition, .!.• potaninii and.!.• tigridia which are closely related to.!.• flavissima and which occur in steppe areas do not have any characters of irises of section Apogon.

This is the nomenclatural summary for this species.

Iris flavissima Pall. 1776, Reise Russ. Reich. 3·:715; Ledeb . 1853, Fl. Ross. 4:102; Turcz. 1856, Fl. Baic.-Dahur. 2, 2:197; Maxim. 1880, Bull. Acad. Sci. Petersb. 26:530, p. p., quoad pl. sibir.; Dykes, 1913, Gen. Iris:137, p. p. quoad pl. sibir; Kryl. 1929, Fl. West Sib. 3:669, excl. syn.; B. Fedch. 1935, Fl. USSR 4:545, p. p., quoad pl. sibir et excl. syn.; Kitag. 1939, Lin. Fl. Mansh.:147, Grub . 1955, Consp. Fl. MHP:96; M. Pop., 1957, Fl. Middle Sib. 1:206, excl. syn.; Poljak. 1958, Fl. Kazakhst. 2 :244.--..!_. flavissima subsp. transuralensis Ugr. 1911, Transact. Soc. Nat. Hist. Khark. Univ. 44:305; id. 1922, Feddes Report. Beih. 14:16. --..!_. humilis auct. non Georgi: Bobr. 1960, Bot. Mat. (Leningrad) 20:6; Serg. 1961, in Kryl. Fl. West . Sib. 12:?208.--Icon.:J. G. Gmel., Fl. Sib. 1:tab. 5, fig. 2; Ugr. 1922, 1. c . :tab. 1, fig. sin., tab. 3, fig. B, tab. 4, fig. 2.

Described from east of Baikal. The type was evidently lost. 644

E. G. Bobrov (1960:7) who resurrected the fo~gotten iris name (i. e ., _!_ . humilis Georgi) given by Georgi naturally had to change the species name of the Caucasian iris,.!_. humilis Bieb., given to it by Bieberstein in 1808, as a later name, to I. marschalliana Bohr. nom. nov. However, in this case the new name ;as superfluous, because there is a lawful synonym for this species,_!_. pontica Zapal.(1906), which automatically becomes the true name of this species as long as I. humilis is nomen praeoccupatum. The new name for_!_. humilis proposed by E.G. Bobrov, will be valid only in the case, if it will be proven that Caucasian and East European representation of this plant should be considered as separate species.

This is the nomenclatural summary for this species:

Iris pontica Zapal. 1906, Consp . Fl. Galic. 1:191.--..!_. humilis Bieb. 1808, Fl. Taur.- Cauc. 1:33; id. 1819, op . cit. 3:45, non Georgi, 1775; Roem. et Schult. 1817, Syst. Veg. 1:476; Ledeb. 1853, Fl. Ross. 4:95; Nym. 1882, Consp. Fl. Europ.: 702; Boiss. 1884, Fl. Or. 5:125 ; Dykes, 1913, Gen . Iris:68; Grossg. 1928, Fl. Cauc. 1:251; B. Fedch. 1935 , Fl. USSR 4:529; Grossg. 1940, Fl. Cauc. Edit 2, 2:212; Fomin, 1950, Fl. USSR 3:290; Prod. et Nyar . 1966, Fl . R. S. Roman. 11:492 . I. marschalliana Bohr. 1960, Bot. Mat. (Leningrad) 20 :7, nom. superfl.-- Icon. Bieb. 1810, Centur. Pl. Par. Ross. l:tab. 31; B. Fedch. Cit . Works:tab. 32, fig. 3; Grossg. 1940, Cit. Works : tab. 26, fig . 9; Prod. et Nyar. 1. c . :tab. 83, fig . 1-ld.

Described from Moldavia (area of city of Bendery on River Dnestr). The type may be at Krakow.

3. Iris halophila Pall.

Study of numerous herbarium specimens, conferences with botanists in Kazakh and Kirghiz Republics and personal field observations con­ vinced me that there is no possibility or necessity to consider I . sogdiana Bunge as an independent species • .!_. sogdiana is separated from _!_. halophila only by the color of perianth, which is violet, but in.!_. halophila it is of light-yellow color. This was observed by K. I. Maxi mowicz (1880) who reduced it to a variety of..!_. halophila and Boissier (1884) considered it only as a strain of this species. Contrary to long standing assumption that.!_. halophila is spread only in the steppes and deserts of southern Siberia and Kazakhstan and.!_. sogdiana in the mountain areas of Middle Asia and Kazakhstan, there is no such separation in their spread. Yellow-flowered.!_. halophila can be found growing together with the violet- flowered form in the area of Lake Issyk- Kul (for example, along Solonchak shores of Chon-Kizyl River), in the mountains of the eastern Tien- Shan and Chinese Dzhungary. 0. A. Fedchenko found it on the slopes of the Gissar mountains and also in the Zernashau Valley specimens herbarium secimens were preserved). The violet form of this iris was also found together with the yellow-flowered form far north on the plains of Kazakhstan. For example, I found it in the upper flow of Sara-su River in the area of Village Atasusski. If one puts on a map 645

separately ranges both of these forms, they will overlap one another in most of the areas. In addition, the color of perianth in the violet form is not stable. It varies in intensity from deep to pale violet. The parts of perianth are either of one color or show variation in color. The outer parts are either much more pale than inner ones or are clearly yellow. There were also found plants in which even inner parts of perianth are yellow and only the large veins are violet. It means that..!_. halophila and..!_. sogdiana have intermediate forms . Consequently it would be correct according to K. I. Maximowicz to consider..!_. sogdiana Bunge only as a variety of..!_. halophila Pall. However, since Maximowicz used for his basic species a name which did not have priority, we propose new name.

Iris halophila Pall. var. sogdiana (Bunge) Grub., comb. nov • .!_. sogdiana Bunge, 1851, Beitr. zur Kenntn. Fl. Russl. i.e. Lehmann Reliq. Bot.:331; Voronov, 1932, Fl. Trukm. 1:325; B. Fedch. 1935, Fl. USSR 4:526; ,Introd. 1941, Fl. Uzbek. 1:507; E. Nikit. 1951, Fl. Kirg. SSR 3:131; Poljak. 1958, Fl. Kazakhst. 2:242; Introd. 1963, Fl. Tadzh. SSR 2:376 • .!_. gueldenstaedtiana var. sogdiana (Bunge) Maxim. 1880, Bull. Acad. Sci. Petersb. 26:578. 646

LITERATURE CITED

1. Bobrov, E. G. 1960. Forgotten species of I. G. Georgi from Baikal flora. Bot. Mat. (Leingrad), 20 . (Original in Russian.)

2. Georgi, I. G. 1775. Bemerkungen einer Reise in Russischen Reich im Jahre 1772, 1. St.-Petersburg.

3. Gmelin, I . G. 1747. Flora sibirica, 1 . Petropoli.

4. Ledebour, C. F. 1853. Flora Rossica, 3. Stuttgartiae.

5. Maximowicz, C. I. 1880. Diagnoses plantarum novarum asiaticarum, III. Bull. Acad . Sci. Petersb. , 26.

6. Pallas, P. S. 1776. Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen des russischen Reiches, 3. St.-Petersburg.

7. Poljakov, A. P. 1950. To the revision of Thunb . Bot . Mat. (Leiningrad), 12. (Original in ~

8. Popov, M. G. 1957. Flora of middle Siberia. 1 . M-L. (Original in Russian.)

9. Sergievskaia, L. P. 1961. . In P. N. Krylov, Flora of the western Siberia. 12(1), Tomsk. (Original in Russian.)

10. Ugrinski, K. A. 1911. Critical notes regarding certain species of Kharkov' s area flora. Transact. of Natur. Hist. Soc. of Kharkov's Univ. 44. (Original in Russian. )

11. Fedchenko, B. A. 1935. Family of Iridaceae Lindl. In Flora of the USSR. 4. M- L. (Original in Russian . )

12. Boissier, E. 1844. Flora orientalis. 5 . Genevae et Basileae. 13. Dykes, w. R. 1913. The Genus Iris. Cambridge.

14. Koidzumi, G. 1925. Contributiones ad cognitionem Florae Asiae oriental is. Bot. Mag. Tokyo, 39 .

15. Makino , T. and Nemoto, K. 1931. Flora of Japan. Tokyo.

16. Ohwi, J . 1965. Flora of Japan. Washington.

17. Thunberg, Ch. P. 1794. Botanical observations on the flora Japnica. Trans. Linn. Soc; London, 2. TH E GENUS IRIS -- A LUMP OR MANY SPLITS? 64 7 Bee Warburton

It is now nearly 20 years since our Russian friend, Dr. Rodionenko, ruised anew th0 ancient question, "Are ou:r irises one, or are they many genera?" Several have been removed ,from the genus, for €XalIIJ':' e, Pa:rdanthopsis ( I. dichotoma) and Gynandr­ iris; but Dr . Rodionenko is of the firm opinion that we should go further and espec­ that we should r emove the bulbous irises into separete genera, as actually they have been considered in past times . The Genus Juno, as he says, has many species that hardly resemble irises at tll, as we think of irises. As he wrote in his article in the B. I.S. Year Book (1962), explaining bis "new and evolutionary" class­ ification after its publication in bis study, THE GENUS IRIS, in 1961: "At some development stages junos differ from irises more distinctly than gladioli and irises differ from each other ." In Orleans this past spring we li.stened to our friend Rodionenko speaking in Russian with French t ranslation, and his concern with this matter of what a genus should include came through even in these unfamiliar tongues. He defines a genus (in the 1962 article) as a family of species, and states that, " • • . a single genus must include only those species of which the true genetic affinity, or, figuratively speaking, the I consanquini ty. 1 i .e. their origin from a single common progenitor, has been proved with certi1:de." It is interesting to find arguments for the same case i n the equally- famous sequel to the famous doctoral thesis of Dr. Mure Simonet ( 1932, 1934) . During those years Dr. Simonet was studing a very l arge collection of carefully checked-out species and hybrids, and not only studying their chromosomes i..~ both England and France, but checking out their interfertilities with numerous crosses and the raising of many hybrid progenies . Although later workers have disputed some of his conclusions, his research is the very basis of modern understanding of the inter­ relationships of what we consider the "genus Iris", r-1s theJr are renected in the chromosomes of the varied taxa of the genus. Here is what he has to say:·

11 • • • it is obvious from our observations that in the Iris, side by side with sections well-defined from the karyolog:tcnl and morphological point of view (Onco­ cysZw;, RegeZia and Pogoni1~is) there are other sections who se morphological hetero­ geneity is paralleled by truly distinct chromosome complements (Apogon and Evansia). One might even say that this karyological heterogeneity is the most salient fact to be derived from the cytological study of the Iris. 111e existance of very differen~ karyotypes in the members of one section indicates the.t the current nomenclature of the irises is imperfect in its lack of any absolutely certain criteria to delimit · all the species • •• 11

"Could we admit vli.th N. Delaunay (1928) that each different karyotype observed should form a new genus, and is it necessary to raise Iris to the rank of n family? In any case, it is necessary to take into account that, while the anat omic structure of their flowers\ll'lites thel!l indisputably, the other morphological characters present present so much differentiation in structure of subterranean parts, leaves, inflorescence, etc., that the Iris appears to constitute many independent ent ities. Have singl e genera been f ormed, for example, of the Orchids, the PapiZionaceae; the Conifers , the Crucifers? .ARE the species of Iris so closely related as to be grouped i n a single genus?

"The first systematicians to be occupied vri t h the classification of the Iris have elready responded affirmatively to this question. The sections that we recog­ nize today under the names of Gynandriris, Juno, ·Xiphion, Evansia, Oncocyclus, were in the beginning separate genera which have since been included in the Iris, notably 648 by G Baker (1876) and W.R. Dykes (1913 and 1924), to be transformed into subgenera and then into botanical sections. 11

"From a strictly cytological point of view, it is clear that truly distinctive karyotypes (Onoocyclus, Regelia, Pogoniris , etc. ) correspond very well to different groups that coincide exactly with the concept of the unity "genus," as it is accepted taxonomically; and a priori the1·e is no reason to accept for Iris a concept of "genus 11 in a larger sense. "

11 Unfortuhately, at the present hour, since the majority of botanists, of horti cul-turists and amateurs have accepted the uniting of all the Iriis species into the one and .only genus, it appears to us very difficult, if not impossible, faced with a tradition so strong, to divide anew the genus Iris. 11

"All that we can try to do is to attempt to ameliorate the classification of legitimate species by ·constituting subgenera, .sections_, subsections, groups and subgroups, ordered in a manner more natural and more conformant to new results botained in genetics, in chemistry and in cytology. 11

This is the basis for the class.ification G.H.M. Lawrence worked out for t e .American Iris Society which, with a few amendments, is still the official classifi­ cation of that body. Since the A.I.S. is the international registry for irises, its classification is important in the iris world; it actually carries no claim of being perfect, but it works well for the registration of all but the bulbous irises which are registered by the_Dutch. At Orleuns, Thomas Hoog, deliver ed a fascinating accoun·~ of the collecting of species bulbs, with some marvelous slides of many of the bulbous species in their native haunts. When I mentioned to him the proposed splitting of ·the genus, he expressed the opinion that it would be disruptive and serve no useful purpose to change the classification of the bulbous irises. T'nere ' J is always a disagreement between those who think classifications should serve objective truth, and those who think they should serve the practical purposes of mankind. Why not have separate classifications for the two purposes? *********·*

TH E IR I SES OF SMALL AND /\LEX/\~~DER B. LeRoy Davidson

In ..the course of exploraticns in preparation for a manual of the plants of the south- eastern states Dr. ,John K. Small di~covered the exciting amount of variation within the indigenous iris populations, and in the course of his writings they · became interpreted as a vast, widespread population r..!onsisting of namy, many sp_ecies, · Be tween himself and his assistant, Dr. Edward J. Alexander, almost a hundred ne1\' species were described. Subsequent opinions were ma.-rzy and took into account such natural phenomena as inherent natural variation a.~d hybri dization, and some clarification of the irises resulted through the studies of their ecology and cytology. As a consequence the majority of these Sma11· and Alexander irises are recogni2ed for what their are. Be that .as it may, this proliferation of names did attract attention-of the world's botanists and horticulturists to the south-e~s:tern American irises. Yet today very few or" the names ar to be found in ·use, ·except as correctly attatched to clones in cultivation. 649

The criteria of species distinctions vary with every person approaching the matter; certainly before any discussion can become meaningful, definitions of terms must be agreed upon. The opinions of Dr . Edgar Anderson in regards to iris taxonomy and other·biological problems are very highly regarded, and in fact were landmark · interpretations utilized by subsequent researchers, and they form the basis of the opinion expressed here. Dr. Anderson (1928) saw no definite distinctions that would allow I . sra>evei Small 192'7 to be separable from I. virginiaa; Small had demonstrat­ ed it to be distinct from I. versiao'lor but had overlooked I. virginiaa; he was therefore in effect re-describing I . virginiaa. Dr . Anderson in his extensive studies (1928) of both I . virginiaa and I. versiaolor as indigenous populations and as culti­ vated individuals, might have been able to select certain few of the individuals that would match I. sh:revei precisely, but such was not his inclination as he approached the problem of distinguishing I . versiaolor and I. virginiaa one from the other. In Anderson' s opinion, the type specimen of I. shrevei collected in Arkansas was "only a badly stunted plant", and specimens he himself later studied f rom the area were quite representative of the true population. Today, I. virginiaa var. ah:revei is ordinarily in use for the Mississippi Valley representatives while the typical phase of the species is thought to exist on the Carolina coastal plain, yet Anderson' s exhaustive research disclosed neither cytological nor consistent mrpho­ logical distinctions between th0 two. 1bst skilled taxonomists attempt to describe a population in ascribing a name and to ::lesignate the type specimen as nearly ari. average representative individual as can be located. Dr . Robert C. Foster upheld Anderson's views and considered I . sohrevei to be conspecific with I. virg-in1,aa, in spi te of the fact that Andt:rso11 had later (1936) allowed I. virginica var. s'h:rievei on geographical basis. There appears to be similarly good reasons for doubting the validity of I. gig­ antiaaerulea Small, for supporting it as separate morphologically and geographically from I . hexagona as a constant population. In this case the type specimen consists of the dissected parts of the flower which was figured in the Addisonia plate, and although the illustration tells us of the ovary, the spathes, the capsule and the seed, there are actually no distinctions drawn to separate it from I. hexa.gona, beyond the fact it was said to be larger. In· the oft-quoted opinion of Anderson, the distinction between the individuals ~~thin a species are of entirely different nature than those which separate one species from another. Thus size alone has not, in irises at least, been regarded as sufficient ground\ for species distinction; Dr . Foster made of it I. hexagona var. gigantioaerulea. If the plants in the original Louisiana population had been dem­ onstrated to be consistent in their larger size then this might stand as a geographical variety. If however there are both large and small individuals and if these large and small ones also occur in other populations of I. hexagona, the usual interpre­ tation would be as a form, if any distinction was thought necessary. Dr. Randolph and associates apparently dismissed I. hexagona completely from consideration and reinstated I . gigantioaerulea as a good species, a practice quite contrary to the,_ rules governing the issue. In the STUDY MANUAL we have followed Anderson in up­ holqing I . virginiaa var. shrevei and in Foster's regard of I . hexagona var. gigantiaaeruZes, although we have some doubts about the validity of the status of the latter. ********** 650

N/\MES J\t,!D TH i f\!GS B. LeRoy Davidson

Apropos of protests at the use of cez•ta:f..n taxonomy, let us be reminded of the different backgrounds as related to name changes; those brought about through the correction of error, once doc.umented we must accept. . But of the others there is a very great deal of leeway for interpretation that must be allowed, and this ii1cludes changes of taxonomic rank.

In the case of I . setosa for instance, Dykes did not chose to allow either I. hookeri or ( the same plant) I. setosa var. canadensis . The facts then are those of· today. There are no better reasons for recognition of such a variety than there were in 1903 (when Foster named it in favor of Penny's prior species I. hookeri) nor when in 1913 Dykes ignored both. However, most of us who talk of it and v.Tite of it regard the eastern Canadian plant as I. setosa var. aanadensis, inasmuch as most of us follow Lawrence who in turn took his case from R.C. Foster. There is no good reason in the opinion held here for the recognition of Hulten 1s re-ranking it as a . subspecies. In the first place there is no unanimous agreement among the taxonomists as to just what constitutes a subspecies, nor in contrast to a variety, whether they differ and if they do exactly how . There is one school of thought that holds the subspecies to be of greater differentiation from the type than is a variety, and even that there may be varieties within subspecies, which others deny, while still others maintain the variety is but a geographically consistant variant. It would seem that this last would fit the case of I. setosa var. aanadensis; in the course of its survival of glaciation it has emerged as a slighter plant in all its parts, with f ewer flowers as a result of a simplified inflorescence. ·,

Throughout the populations of I . setosa in Alaska and Asia, and particularly at extreme limits:, it is apparently quite commonplace to find slighter forms that would seem to confirm to aanadensis:1 as well as variants of all other manner:, and we might reflect on Dykes' decision, to try to force such a perplexite of variability into man-made conformations is hopeless and perhaps useless. This of course, is not to say that horticulture may not designate as cultivars and seed strains whatever it wishes. Thus it is with the dark violet velvet form brought from England last year· and named 'Savill' for its origin at the Savill Gardens of Windsor Great Park.

Let us be warned against accepting acquired characters as being of any signnif~ icance in these matters. The individuals which Hulten, Rodionenko and others have · cited as deviants in the course of their detailed studies have attracted too much attention and only because they have been given the recognition of a name; there is no proof that their differences are distinctions. Would you believe that we have a file of enquiries from enthusiasts who vrould grow then, and who expect them to be available just as if they were commonplace? To our knowledge even the most stable. of these ( ssp. interior) is not· in cultivation.

:WII'. Luscombe has ·complied for the B. I.S. Newsletter a very complete record of the variation within Iris setosa (no. 68, Jan. 1978) and Dr. Pain (SIGNA p.606, April 1978) has told of this precise fallacy, of seeing his several variant transplants com1; to look- alike within o. few years of cultivation. As a parallel of som~ degree we recall that the greatest distinction of I. Zongipeta.Za was said to- be its relative growth and dormancy pattern; when re.troved from the elevated ·inherent . . moderating influence of its benign climate, it behaved exactly as I . missouriensis and in fact could not be distinguished from the more robust forms of that, either morphologically or karyologically. **·******** 651

DARBY~S .l.R.1S.. X ROBUSTA

B. LeRoy Davidson

Uncertainties shroud the plant (or plants) going by the cultivar name 'Gerald Darby'. Obviously we can dispell the first of these, the record of the registered parentage; if there actually was such a hybrid plant, it cannot have been what is now called by that name. This leads directly to the second uncertainty, a correct name for what we do have, which cannot possibly be that of the hybrid plant recorded (I. sanginea X a Louisiana hybrid). Someone might be willing to go through the motions of declaring the original to be lost t o cultivation (thus allowing the nam~ 1 Gerald Darby' to be available) and then registering the imposter by that name, but · this is not here suggested as it would only lead to further confusion while accomplish­ ing nothing. However, should it be decided, as Mr . Luscombe believes, that this second plant is actually a hybrid of versicoZor-virginica origin, then it must be classified within Anderson's Iris X robusta. In addition to -evidence presented in SIGNA 17, the relative propor tion of the falls (6 cm) and the standards (4.5 cm) conform to the expectations for that taxon. Since we obviously are not referring to the registered hybrid·, we should· properly and wisely discontinue use of the misnomer 'Gerald Darby' completely and refer to the plants extant as Iris X robusta, since both morphologically and cyto­ logically that is apparently what they are. We would be both explicit and correct in calling them "Darby's robusta " if we so wished, without any risk of confusion with the lost "hybrid" sanguinea X Louisi ana, the original 'Gerald Darby' of record. **********

QUESTI O~lS PLEASE

Q. Could you please give some advice on how to treat Iri8 unguiauZarie as a pot .subject; there seems little hope of flowering it outdoors in this area (Ohio). A. According to a note r eplying to this precise question put to the "Panel of Experts" of the Alpine Gar den Society (England) t here is small hope of bringing the winter irises to flower in pots. The species requires a very extensive cool root run (in their opinion) although there is also a record of great success with it in very shallow soil over impermeable concrete, anything but extensive, though :possibly "cool" - but this was not in a cold climate area.

In SIGNA we once advocated building a frame to grow this plant. There seems to be no real reason it could not be flowered in any big tub or box that could be pro- · tected from heavy freezing. It responds only slowly to being divided; thus the soil area should allow room for development. It grows best in a poor "starved" soil in a hot , sheltered place; thus a low nitrogen diet and a position free of wind but open to full sunshine . . There should be in surmner only enough moisture to keep the subsoil cool while the rhizomes near the surface "bake" to induce buds to form. · This sounds like t he old pi t-house, which is nothing more than a . deeply excavated cold frame over which a tight sash is placed in ,vinter to keep in the natural warmth of the earth. On sunny days it is opened a crack for vent ilation, If the inside is retained by concrete blocks solar heat is absorbed by day and given off to keep the night time warm inside. A double cover of clear plastic 652 would provide an insulating airspace that Vlould reduce heat loss . Has anyone had any experience with such an economical structure? It would seein the ideal place to grow certain other precocious species, the fimbriate flowered cane evansias (on the shadier side) and a place also to gently force the r eticulata and Juno species which f l ower in the short days and are more certain to succeed with a little shelter from weather. Q. 1./iy question concerns t he r egistration of the different species. Somewher e last year, the governing members of the A.I.S. decided that species were not to be counted for the silver or br onze medals i f they were not registered. Blue ribbons can still be given and even awarded a rosette. I am disturbed about this develop­ ment, because the only registration I understand is that the plant has to have a name, or be a selected clone with a· name, or whatever method is used to name a species. I do not understand why a plant can't be entered under its proper species design­ ation and then be counted towards the medals .... I. teatorum is entered every year by me, and is always a hit. I suspose that I should look for a r eally outstanding clone and name it. There are many other species that come true from seed. What happened that no one in the Species Study Group was around to defend the 11 rights 11 of species? If I have misunderstood this matter (and I don' t think I am alone), please help t o get this matter st raightened out. If one buys a plant under a species name from a nursery, is it registered? Will it be necessary to go to an iris show and produce a registration certificate? lliarie McGahee, Huntsville, Alabama

A. We 'd like to hear from those of our members who are judges, and those who have participated in shows recently where speci es were exhibited, for any light they can shed on this problem. Meanwhile, the only question that I can answer is the next to the last one--a plant bought under a species name from a nursery is not a .. register ed item in the A.I.S. sense of named varieties which are cl onal items dis- pursed by divisi on. Many species are raised from seed f or sale, and while some like I. tectorwn are very uniform in appearance, each is never the less a separate clone. Outside. of major sections such as Siberians, Louisiana and Spurias there are very few named clones of species. Ni.0st i tems that would appear at shows would be simply seedlings. I 'll see what I can find out from the proper A. I.S. Committees what 11 species rights 11 are in shows, and report further at a later date. J w· tt ean i • ED: Species iris are far more "registered"' than registration with t he A.I.S., who only require a rough, brief and at times inaccurate description of the iris variety (or cu.Ztivar if you wish), white a species needs to be compZetel,y described·. in great and accurate detail, nvith even a Zatin. diagnosis that can be read the world over. Species are r egistered with the wrZd and not just with one Socief;y. It seems to me the A.I.S. is taking an untenable sta.nd in saying a speci es is not registered unless it has been registered with us and ignoring the judgement of the world. Why don ' t they atso say Dutch (or aU the bulbous iris) are not registered for slwws because th.e Dutch do the job of registering and not the A.I.B.? Are the Dutch more highly r>ecogni zed that the world body of botanists - the real, experts?

Q. I was recently given a pot grown plant of Ir·is minuta and ( having failed with it on a previous occasion) I am wondering where to locate it i n the garden. I s it a woodlander? Or should it have full exposure? What kind of soil?

A. First, to set i ts name straight, this now correctly is to be known as I . minuta- aurea, for some obscure reason, probcbly because t he original I . minuta -is said to have been blue, and what we now have is yellow. (Botanists have sometiines f ailed to remember that flower colour in many speci es of iris can be either yellow or blue). It may seem strange that nothing i s known of this species in the wild; "'e only :!mow it from Japanese horticulture, where it is grown in pots or used in ·· 653 tray-landscape gardens (bonsai). We asked Tony Hall of Kew for his method of culture, having noted the excellent growth he ' d gotten with a plant brought up from Wakehurst, ·the "Kew Armes" down in Surrey.

11 It may seem a contridiction, but this species like I. carpitosa and I. ruthenica seems to pref()r a moist, we11-:drained soil, yet a sunny site. Whatever time of year the plant is received, I suggest, careful pan culture for the first year or that: the slender, wiry rhizomes do not dry out, and stocks Cru\ settle down and increase, which they wil l do splendidly so, if they are given the right treatment.

The compost should be a rich, gritty yet loamy woodland mix. Here at Kew for pan culture we use: 1 part well-decayed l eaves through a ½" sieve 2 parts loam 3/4 part silver sand 1 part l/8 11 to 1/4 11 grit 1 part granulated sphagnum peat

Pb~ zomes should be placed ~t 11 below the soil surface and the pan top-dressed with grit- this helps to keep the surface free od mosses and liverworts (well. . aeaated) and discourges slugs which are particularly fond of this plant. If t he plant arrives in SUlillller, I would suggest placing the pan in a semi-shaded positi~n plunged in moist sand or ashes; at any other time of year, and once established, it ~~11 benefit from as much light as possible. It will not tolerat~ drying out - at any time.

Planting should be done in autumn, when root growth is vigorous, and a rich, moisture-retentive, yet well-drained soi l on a s unny site (to ensure flowering) is preferable. Once established, the plant should form a dense mat of rhizomes and will r epay an annual dressing of well- rotted cow manure; after a few years lift out and devide fi necessary, again in autumn, and r esite in fresh soil. The rock garden or front of the border will suit this iris, but alpine house culture may be desirable in areas of l ate frosts or excessive winter wet; as with the other iridaceous plants, the danger with pan culture is the drying- out of roots nearest the sides of the pot, but plunging will l imit this.

M,v feeling is that Iris minuto aurea will dislike an alkaline soil. Certainly in our ncid- to-neutral soil it maintains that deep glossy healthy foliage which is one of its main attractions, a feature reminiscent of the dwarfer form of Acorus gramineus. " **********

OF FRAGRANCE AGA IN

The Wild Garden's New Catalogue ($1 . 00, r efundable ) says of .I. ohrysographes: "Darkly sinster flowers with a faint but corrupt juicy fruit aroma".

Incidentally, this may be the only source today of Lenz ' s 'Santa Paula' . The address: P.O. Box 407, Bothell, WA 98001, U.S.A. ********** G54

IRIS SPECIES OF PORTUGA L~ SPA IN AND ~ORTH AFRICA Sir Cedric Morris Reprinted from the Br•itish Iris Society .Year Book 1956

The earliest iris to flower in the districts with which we are dealing is. I. aZata. In Portugal it blooms by Christmas in the South at and near Lagos, very locally, but where it occurs it is abundant, growing :L.7. masses in heavy red clay amongst limestone rocks, with various asphodels, cistuses, FritiUaria Lusitanica~ Colchiwn lusitanicu.m, orchi . and ophrys in variety, Narcissus rupicoZa, Anemone pa,Zmata and of course the so-called Iris (HeZixiJl"a) sisyrinchiwn. In central Portugal it occurs near Penela south of Coimbra; here it flowers in February, again on limestone. In Spain it occurs in great qusntity in the Ronda district, where it iB a wonderful $ight in January and February, varying from white (rare) throµgh pale blue to a rich dark blue. Here it is associated with FritiUaria hispanioa, Na:roiesus rupioo1-a, romuleas, orchie and ophrys in variety. It is loc·al in other places in Andalusia~ In North Africa I have only raet it growing in the RuDllllel gorge at Constantine in Algeria. Here in East Anglia it blooms well each year under a south wall 1 and may flower any time in February and March according to the weather.

I. subbiflora flowers in Portugal from January to the end of March - it is a beautiful clear black-purple in the best forms, but of course varies. I have found it almost white, grey-blue, blue and red-purple. It is 9 inches to 1 foot in height and grows near the sea on limestone rocks in conjuction with a vast number of low- I growing plants and shrubby and bulbous. Liear Lisbon, especially between Cascais and l1alveira, it may be found iu great numbers. It occurs also near Coimbra, and ~n \ South Spain and North Africa. This iris has the reputation of being difficult in .i England, but in my garden it flowers regularly i~ May and sets seed, although it has never looked really happy. Great bunches are picked and sold by children in the streets of Lisbon.

I. albioans is common in Portugal~ Eastern and Southern Spain and North Afri c~, and flowers from the end of February to the end of 11arch, Doubtless it has natur­ alized itself, and is a relic of the Moors, who always planted it on their graves. I. germaniaa has also naturalized itself in these countries, and I. susiana is found near Braganza in Portugal - it is of course a garden escape.

I. pseudacorus andU. foetidissima are common i n both Spain ans Portugal - the last also in the Atl as Mountains.

The great glory of these countries, so far as irises are concerned, is the weal.th of species of the Xiphium Section. I . xiphium itself is common in Spain, Portugal~ and North Africa, but I. xiphioides is found only in the Pyrenees? the wild form, flowering in July, being a pure blue-purple. All the following irises? with the exception of the last~ are relatives of these two universally-known plants.

I . Zusitanica is a yellow form of I . xiphiu.m. This is a beautiful plant of a pure clear yellow, graceful and well formed, the flower larger than the usual xiphiun. It blooms in March and April and is found only in the Pr ovinces of Beira and Es tremadura in Portugal. It is common in the wild country west of Lisbon. It is quite hardy in England.

I . taitii is pale blue in colour, varying to a darker blue, it is graceful and very slim, a foot to a foot and a half in height. It usually bears two blooms , 655 but sometimes has four or more. To my mind it is a very desirable plant,being quite hardy, and more gracefuk than any other bulbous iris. It is supposed to be peculiar to South Portugal, but I have found it in Spain and the Riff Mountains near Xauen. It flowers in May ,

I. fiZifoZa, a most beautiful iris, is rare and very local, and is only to be found in South Spain and North Africa. In colour it is red-purple with an orange and blue blotch on the falls. The foliage is grey-green, long and very narrow, atld the bases of the leaves are spotted with purple. It is not easy to grow in this ' country. I have found it in the Riff Mountains near Tetuan.

I. boissieri, the only b~arded bulbous iris, grows solely on the slopes of the Serra do Gerez in northern Portugal, where it is extremely local. I have never seen it.

A sight never to be f orgotten is th~ blooming of I. tingitana on the outskirts of Tanger - and this iu mid-winter. This iris, which one usually sees in late winter in floris ts' shop-windows in any big town in Europe, can there be seen by the tens of thousands growing in any waste place just outside the town, but its habitat extends only for a few miles; then it ceases to appear and is found wild nowhere else in the world. Berber women bring great bunches and baskets of I. tingita,rza. to sell in the native market. It is a bad garden- plant in this country, as it dislikes our wet climate and loses its clear blue colour, but it forces well~

I. fonta.nesii comes f rom the Atlas Mountains round Ifrane in the Middle Atlas.

It is thought by some to be a form of I. tingita.rza3 but to me it is very distinct. In gardens it r equires shelter under a south wall and stony well-drained soil. It resents wet and late frosts.

Iris (HeZixyra) sisyrinahiwrz3 which is not, strickly speaking, an iris at all, has an enormous range, covering South Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor and a vast extent of Asia proper. In Portugal it is very common in the central and southern districts. In Spain it is found all over the south, and in North Africa certainly in Tripolitania, Tunisia, Algeria and Mo r occo. It has a curious habit of flowering only in the afternoon. One may wander over a piece of waste ground all morning and not see a sign of it: but about 3: 30 p.m. the whole place ,rlll be blue with millions of this little irid. By the next morning all will be gone again. It has two or three ve ry tough leaves and a netted corm. I t varies in height from an inch to a foot according to situation, and flowers from February to June . In Portugal there is great variation from pale to dark purple~ and occasionally a white form appears. It seems to grow in any soil and any situation, but favors hard stoney ground, 11 particularly if this is much walked on; the Portuguese call it "Donkey's footsteps • Here in East Anglia it flowers regularly iri the open under a south wall and occasion­ ally sets seed. ********** 656

NOTES C~ SMALLER SPECIES Rudolf Hanselmayer Re-printed from the British I:r:>is Society .Year Book 1955

The first irises in the year in my garden are forms of Ina :r:>eticulata: 4NTAB and I. histr>ioides majo1~. These open their flowers always with Galanthus eZwesii; Ins retiautata (type) followg a few days later with Galanthus nivatis. As l-ir. Cave mentioned last year, the forms of J.S. Dijt, which flowers at the same time, is much better than the type. I have grown four other forms of :r:>etiaulata, · but I always possessed both these and the type for only a few years before losing them, probably to the attacks of the ink fungus. As is well-known, therefore, I:r:>is retiaulata should be lifted every year , but I dig and move all my bulbs and other irises only between the third and fifth years. Many visitors ask for a bulb of CANTAB, but nevertheless the number grows from year to year. When the garden is covered with freshly-fnllen snow, and the blue and purple flowers appear on the white plain, one can never forget this lovely picture. Therefore I say with Mr. · Cave : "If I were restocking my garden with iris species, I would make sure that I · ·had at least a selection of reticulatas. Histrioides major, sometimes flowering a few days· earlier than CANTAB, is the most beautiful of them with the largest flowers.

I have always heard that aristata and Zacustris need a moist soil in half­ ·shade. Consequently I mixed my sandy soil with German peat moss and with clay, but laaustris grows never so robustly here as it does 10 miles distant in Frohn­ leiten, in a dry sunny spot of 4 feet square. The loamy soil there is covered with hundreds of flowers, not only in spring but also in autumn. I find the same with Iris kaerrrpfen (now I. ensata. ed.) : the heavier the soil, the drier it may be. The white form of anstata seems to me to be especially lovely. Another aice iris is teatorwn, of which there are some varying forms; teatorwn alba is particularly good, and the rule that the constitution of albinos is less robus t does not seem · true in this case. In my garden teatorum alba is more robust than the type, grows like a weed, sets seed and comes true. 1

Another lovely iris is minutoau:t>ea. I grow it under the. same conditions as ari'stata, and it always flowers satisfactorily, but only the second or third year '. after planting. I

If you like fragrance, plant and its light-blue form pseudo­ ay'P(ZI'iB; I don't know if the latter name is true. The late Dr. Lemperg received the same iris several times from Rumania under the name "humilis", but the true humilis should be stemless, while this plant has a stem, not so tall as in gra:minea, but incontestably a stem of 3 to 6 inches. The colour of the flower is a clear light-blue with a yellow tongue (line), much more beautiful than the dull colour of the type {{Paminea. I have often asked for Iris humilis, but have neither received nor seen it.

A very fine iris is bloudowii. My friends in the U.S.A had written to me that they had not seen any difference between Iris arena:t>ia and Iris bioudouJii, and I \ therefore sent pieces of it to Walter Welch and to Lawr~ce W. Neel. Both prized . it highly. It is indeed a nice flower, much more beautiful than arenaria, but as with the latter its flower is soon over. The flower of bZ.oudo'IJJii is much larger ~nd the leaves taller and broader; the colour of the flower is a brighter (darker) yellow than that of arenaria, and the falls sh0... ~. h~nnRnmP. hrnt.m m~rk, rP.semhline 657 the horns of a ~tag. The leaves of b1,oudol.Jii are yellowish-green. It grows well, like aPeruir>ia, in sandy soil, but the soil needs not only humus, but also feeding, and should be richer than: that r ~quired for a.7'

My second choice among the species is Iris att-ica3 of which I am growing four colour-forms. Attica is the smaller, a diploid edition of -pumila, but is probably the older of the two. Three of my forms show the sickle-shaped leaves which are also a distinguishing character of Iris mellita. and its sub-species rubro-marginata., but one has slender leaves and narrow flowers like the Russians pumilas. Though · the HANDBOOK OF GARDEN IRISES states that "the specimens of attiaa are almost invar­ iably yellow", I was always of the opinion that Iris attiaa is divided into colour- , forms in the same way as pwniZa, though not so many, and that a few of the so-called pumilas are really atticas, particularly the blue and red forms which show an · entirely blue beard. I never found a pumila of which the entire beard was blue; t~e inner part is always yellow or whitish. Dr. Randolph in fact collected blue and red forms of attica last year, and the chromosome count will show if the above pumilas are really atticas or not. Blue beards are also a distinguishing character of Iris meUita., except in the yellowish forms, which have white or light yellow beards. The shape of the rhizomes of attica varies also a little from those of pwniZa. The cultivation of Il"'!s a1;t;f..\c o!·:c:i1.d b-:?. the same as that of Iris pl411i1-a, thcu:-a:h the former seet¥; t o be a J.:' · '..:e t .....:re i;::i:.-~c ting ..

I grow about a hundred different clones of Iris pwniZa. Half of them I collected in Austria, and the others are from Hungary, , Russia and Yuga­ slavia. ln shape, pumilas from all European countries with the exception of. those from Russia and the form cretica are much alike. I have six pumilas from Russia, , four of which are from the Crimea, and two from the • .As mentioned above, the Russian pumilas are distinguished by the narrow flower-segments and slender leaves; another distinct character is the longer perianth-tube which the flowers show above the leaves. All these points give the Russian pumilas a noteworthy daintiness. I consider the two forms from the Ukarine, now named and registered . UKRAINA and SARMATIA, the best.

In the wild, pumilas grow between grass, alium, Echinops r>itro, muscari, and Sedum album, between shrubs (hornbean, hawthorn, wild rose) in very poor soil, so~etimes between little boulders where the soil is so dry and poor that there is little competition from other plants, with the exception of a few sempervivums or sedums . Most of these localities are at the edge of little woods, between light undergrowth where this is not too compact; I know no locality in a plain - all are to be found on hills and slopes, fr~quently on steep slopes in barren areas. The , plants prefer south and west aspects with plenty of sunshine and seldom grow on the east or north sides.

Unfortunately most of these locations in Austria are near towns. Though it : is forbidden to collect pumilas - they are protected plants - people dig the plants and cut flowers away so near the .soil that part of the rhizome is cut off and the rest dies. Naturally, flowers with bright and outstanding colours are most likely to be taken, and therefore such plants are difficult to find and t~~ ·clirnps are 653

are only small. Most of the pumilas are dirty-yellow or purple-violet, and these can be seen in large clUBps, but they exist in all the other colours which we know in irises, including variegatas and, as I recently heard, amoenas with reddish markings .

If one has s een pumilas growing in such localities, one cannot th.,.nk that it should be necessary to r eplant them every year in the garden , as is so often sta ted, but the hybrids may be mere demanding . I myself have found the plants in their best growth in the second and third years, and I have old clumps (5-6 years old) which are very rich in flower . It is better, however, for such old clumps if the soil is not too light and sandyt although it must be well-drained or on a slope of the rock garden. The lighter the ·soil, the more humus and feeding are necessary; the tenderer the roots, the more humus and sand should be in the soil. For young seedlings the soil should not be too heavy, as Walt<=:r Welch has stated in his last "Robin" letter. How great is the vitality of the pumila i s shown by the rhizomes which I sent last year to New Zealand; they arrived after t wo months and one week, but nevertheless have built real clumps the second year. It was the same with the Talls which Mrs. Stevens so kindly sent me, nearly all of them flowering in the same year late in July, four mon ths after arrival.

My eldest brother and I inherited 5 acres of meadow-land? partly with fruit­ trees, and a wood to the west of our town. It in on a steep slope, very rocky, (conglomei::ate stone) , and the soil is a heavy red clay. In summer, if the soil is

I cannot remember such a wet year as 1955, and the newspapers say that there have not been such rains in Austria for 200 years. It has rained nearly every day, and throughout the whole of July and August we have had dew every morning as heavily as in a normal October. Our iris season was more thar:. two weeks l ater than usual, and for the first time i n my life I had a tall bearded flower as late as July. Some of my irises rotted, and I lost 2% of my Talls totally, and 6% partially, the . mortality w~s greater amongst plants which I received last autumn. The percentage of dwarfs lost is higher ; 4% totally and 2% partially. Most of my losses were of native plants. My brother lost no more plants in his clay than I in my sandy soil, but what shall we see in spring 1956? Last week I lifted some prants in both localities. All plants in t he sandy soil have many more thin roots and show better increase than those in the heavy soil~ and the better-cultivated plants are also free of leaf-spot. 659

IRISES I!\i EGYPT W.J . Schovil Reprinted from the Brit-ish Iris Society Year Book 1947

The excuse for these notes is that they may be of use to those who think of growing ir:ls species i n warm clirr.at es, Neverthel ess, people who grow them in England may find some thing of inter est in their behaviour, and in the conditions they need here.

In Egypt, gardcmir~g is virtually cor._fi ned to the r.eighbourhoo ds of the large towns . Curio gardens have the advant age of a more r etentive soil but the climate is far fiercer than that of Alexandria. In spring and sur.:mer the heat i s far more intense and in winter, frost sooetimes occurs ; a few years ago several thousands of young mango trees were killed by· frost ne~r the p)T!"amids. In Alexandria the mean temperature for August is 79 0 F . ~nd · for January 56 0 F. Yesterday, 10th January, there was a maximum of 69°F . and a minimum of 43°F . with bright sunshine. In spring, occasionally, hot winds from the desert ciay produce temperatures of over 1000 F. for a - few hours or sometimes days. Whan the wind changes there may be a drop of 30° in half an hour. The winter rainfall averages 8 inches~ enough in a good year for the Bedouin of the Western Coastal Desert t o raise a crop of barley; but it is very irregular and uncertain. The rainless summer is tempered by the northerly sea breezes which produce a very.high degree of humidity.

Ramleh, the residential suburb of Alexandria, is built on more or less consoli­ dated sand dunes overlaying a ridge of soft limestone which runs eastwards from the desert, along the coas~, ending in the headland of Abouldr. The gardens have a piped supply of unfiltered Nile water for irrigation. The natural sand is enriched with Nile silt and stable manure according to the depth of the owner 9s purse. In its early days the sand of this garden was liberally mixed with small fragments of · building rubbish and, wi th the addition of manure, showed remarkable, but short­ lived fertility. For a number of years there was too much lime f or calcifuge plants but with the passage of tinie the constant irrigation, with frequent additions of Nile silt, manure, and vegetable compost, have made it practically neutral. A vast range of plants will flourish in these conditions, and, on the one hand, we can grow anything which does not demand the rest imposed by frost, while on the other there are f ew limits to the ..numb er of tropical and s.ubtropical trees, shrubs and creepers which will t hrive if sheltered from the sea breezes.

A good Arab gardener is a valuable man and would rejoice the heart of a Superintendent of Parks . He i s, however, obstinate and conservative, and in his heart he dislikes plants which do not give him a chance to use his skill and which take up room for perhaps fifty weeks and give flowers for only two. lie is clever at propagating plants and is prepared to spenci endless time in training specimen pots of chrysanthemums and show pelargoniums. He likes the largest and fattest dahlias and zinnias and the most brilliant magenta cinerarias and coxcomb coleus that he can get.

His chief fault is that he i rrigates far too fraquent l y in preference to con­ serving moisture by hoeing . All this produces condi tions which make difficult survival for plants which need a rest in sunnner . In a large garden there would be no difficulty but, with land worth from L 8,000 to L 15,000 an acre, large gardens are disappearing. It follows that the irises which will t ol erate the conditions 660 of the orainary garJen are more or less bog plants~ . or those which can be lifted after flowering, and it explains why so few irises are found in gardens here .

This garden has suffered two-major diasters which explain the use of the past tense in writing of so many plants. 11y trusted head gardener had to leave one summer while I was in England anp a series of rascally successors, while I was increasingly occupied elsewhere, led to the disappearance, by theft or through ill­

usage, of a host of· good things. Then, in 1939 9 the Army took the place as a hospital for five years during which practically everything, except the trees and some of the shrubs~ was stolen or destroyed . In 1944 I made a fresh start.

Our native I. sisyrinohium is a pretty thing but its drawback as a garden plant is that the flowers ara only open between 'i.10on and four o'clock. !t makes pools of blue iu the desert

Except for the Xiphium section, bulbous irises are awkward to place in an Egyptian garden. Rock gardens hardly exist and it is only in one or two compar­ atively large gardens t hat a corner is set apart for winter and spring flowering bulbs where they can be left undisturbed during the summer. In niy garden the only space available was a small bank planted with succulents. Lumps of limestone were used to prevent the soil from being washed away , Here I grew and flowered the following: II. :t>eticulata (type~ CANAB , LITTLE BRIDE, and the N.W. Persian -forms sent .out by Van Tubergen), histrio., Vartani, Bakeriana:, and Da:nfordiae. II. histrio and Vartani are notoriousl y difficult to keep in England but good forms are very charming. Some I had produced almost the same effect as Gentiana Fro?r>eri. Of the Junos there were: II. aZata, persica (varieties Sieheana., Heldreichii, and tau:I>i), sindjarensis, Sindpers, paZestina:, Rosen:baahiana:, orahioides, warleyensis and bua'fza:t>iaa . I . jun.oea and I. filifolia, collected at Gibraltar, were accom­ modated on this bank, together with a number of collected forms of I. sisyrin.ohiwn. I. histrioides was no t there because it was very difficult to get in those years. I . ·orchioides was a very strong yellow? I. palestina was a wishy-washy combination of yellow and green; I. wcn.~Zeyensis a slaty blue. I coul d not get I. persica type ··but I never fell in love with the varieties. I. sindjcwensis and SINDPERS were well worth while. I. Rosenbachiana is almost gaudy; Mrs . Dykes kindly gave a bulb which proved to have been perforated by wire worm and was minus its roots, however, I was lucky to get one at all.

There is no difficulty in growing the Reticulatas and Juno irises provided that they are given a fairly stiff soil. The difficulty with the latter section is to get the bulbs with the fleshy roots unbroken. The bulbss by the time I got them, had suffered also from being out of the ground too long. They need very careful nursing if they ar~ to survive.II. ala.ta and buoha.Pioa were in better shape than the others, fJ.l these were wiped out in a week by an incredibly vir­ ulent attack of red . By the time I procured some potassium sulphide the damage was done and the following year not a single shoot appeared and only a few empty coats were found in the ground. This rust has never occurred before or since in the garden. I suspected that it might be a stage in the life cycle of the black fungus for which I bad treated w~th formalin an improted lot of I. reticulata in the previous ~utumn. A comparatively harmless rust also appeared on the foliage of I. hexagona and I have wondered whether the disease came with it (f.l from America. For several years ir was troublesome on I. hexagona but it has not appeared in the garden since 1930. I lost several hundreds of bulbs and since then have not :tried to grow Reticulata or Juno irises in this garden. I am hoping to grow them in the Western Coastal Desert where I. al,ata has persisted for eighteen years on rainfall in a shallow rock pocket. The Dutch and Spanish irises do well. One year imported bulbs of Van EVERDINGE!~ and HUCHTENBU~G showed extraordinary vigour and gave 6- 7 flowers on each s tem. If lifted and sized every year to maintain go o

I. japonica has been grm-m here and there in Egyptian gardens for ,forty or f ifty years but I do not know anyone who has it now . It resents too much sun and, to begin with, in my garden, with full sun exposure, imported plants vegetated freely but refused to flower. I have seen it doing well under citrus trees where it got .hardly any sun at all. I. teatorwn needs similar treatment. From talf a dozen plants mine ir1creased to a strip 12 yards wide? crammed with rhizomes, but I only got two or three flowering stems e year. This was in full sun, but they did better in shad~ though they never re::ally flowered freely. I. Mil,esii appeared to be easier to flower than either of the:se. It grew and f lowere d well but was event­ ually crowded out by better things. I. aris-tata, grew and flowered in pots as I cculd never contrive a suitable place in which to plant it. I. gr>aailipes never recovered from the long journey from Yokohama . For years I tried to get seed of I . specul,at;rix, even to the extent of getting my brother to visit the Hong Kong Botanic Garden. None was forecoming , but I believe it would do well here. I have just received some heal thy plants of I. aonfusa from rfr. Perry. As a whole the plants of this section are easy enough to grow in Alexa<·dria. but need humouring before they will flower fre ely. Mr. Bowles once very kindly gave me seed of I . diahotoma. In two years the plants flowered very freely but died after fruiting. I was away when the seed ripened and it was no t sm-m . I wish I could get it again.

I have grown and flowered a good many of the Apogon section and many .of them do well in the ordinary irrigated garden bed. In the early days of the garden, before the sand had been enriched and before there was much shade, many of them were not happy, and, later, lack of space led to the rejection of many I should certainly have kept had I had a larger garden. II. sibirica, orienta7,is and various hybrids betweeu them, DeZavayi, ahrysographes, WiZsoni, Forrestii, CZarkei, Long- . ipeta,Za and setosa grew·and flowered for several years in a bed with full exposure to the sun. II. l,aevigata,, Kaempferi hybrids, pseudacorus, versicoZor and its variety ker:mesina, grew in pots in a tank. With all these, in full sun, there was a tendency for t he flowers to open before the s tems had made length; in some cases the flowers never emerged from the spathe. They behaved better after they had a chance to become acclimatised. For the bog plants I have now constructed a shallow bay out of one of my tanks. For the others? it was not easy to find the partly shaded positions they needed, and their flowers were very fugitive. I raised seed­ lings of II. Douglasiana and tenax but they suffered from Chlorosis and I fancy there was then too much lime in the soil; in Cario they did better in the Nile silt of the Zohreia garden but have now disappeared. I . foetidissima was a very slow erower but did well in full shade. I. verna was difficult to place and was grown in pots. I. ruthenica for the same reason was grovm in po ts; for its scent alone it is worth having. I. unguicularis does exceptionally well provided that it does not ge t too much water in the summer . I had the type and the varieties Zilaaina., marginata,J al,ba, speaiosa, and lazica, and a narrow foliaged plant which came under he name of QUEEN ELIZABETH . All except the first three disappeared duri~g the Army occup.ation. They are so vigorous and heal thy here that I should like to have tl\em all again. · 662

The Spuria sub-section de;> very well and I. oahroZeuaa was one, of the first irises · I saw in Egypt. Mrs. E.G. Crafton of Ramleh has some thirty square -yards of it which have not been touched for thirty-·five years and they are at last beginning to go back. ~vhen I ~ame to Ramleh I was struck with its beauty in Mr. G. c .. Foster 1 s ·garden where it was in a big bed with HemeroaaUis a:urantiaca major and SIR l:UCHAEL ·FOSTER in front of it, and with a dark background. I planced as many of its relations as I could get and all did welL They included the varieties SHELFORD GIANT, QUEEN ELIZABETii, sulphurea" Canari., Innocence, Snowflake, ,larei; II. Nonier.i and aurea:.and the hybrids OCERAUR"M. and MONAUREA; I. spuria, varieties NOTH.A, A.W.'­ TAIT and musulmanica;' and the HONSPUR hybrids, A.J. BALFOUR~ JUNO, PREMIER and CAMBRIDGE BLUE. Plants received under the names of Sintenisii and halophila* were much alike and appeared to be dwarf forms of spu.ria with narrow slate-coloured flowers. I also had I. graminea which is always worth having for its delicious scent. As a group they enjoy a rich sandy soil in Egypt. The best of them are tall handsome plan ts but I wish the flowers lasted a little longer. To me it seems -a fault with most of them that the falls curl under. I should like to grow them all a.gain and select a few from which to breed.

The Hexagona sub-section grow with the greatest freedom. In rich soil here they send out rhizomes a foot or more in length and an inch in diameter. They are so exuberant that they quickly exhaust the soil and need transplanting every second year. This is best done in early autumn. I began with II. fulva x FULVALA, another hybrid Dorothea K. Williawson, and foliosa. In 1928 I received a number of plants of I. hoogiana and one of thE: white variety from Hessrs. Reasoner Brothers of· Oneco, Florida. The former carries flowers larger than, but similar in form to; those of I. foliosa, as figured in THE GENUS IRIS, on three to four foot stems. The white variety is similar in habit but the falls are carried vertically and I am inclined to think that it is the plant described by Dr. Small as I. aZbispiritus. The green veins on the haft help to nake the flowers very attractive. The fo*lowing

year I received I . savannarum and a hybrid, fulva x savanna:P""'17! 7 named CACIQUE from .Mr. Stillman Berry of Redlands, California. The first appears to me to be an exceptionally good form of he:cagona with velvety dark blue purple falls . The hybrid is a more vigorous plant, sending up erect stems of four to five feet in length, carrying as many as eight flowers, similar to, but larger than, those of x J?ULVALA. The same year, from Mr. W.A. Bridwell of Forestburg~ Texas, I received one rhizome of a yallow form of fuZva. When it flowered the colour was a pale chrome.

In 1939 I saved a few plants of II. hexagona., savannarwn, and CACIQUE and kept them alive until I returned here in 1944. I . fuZva I was able to recover from a friend to whom I had given it. All the species seed freely~.but CACIQUE produces an enormous quantity. A bed of about nine squar.e yards produced a bucket·-full of seed in 1946. I. hexagona, type, flowers at the end of March in this climate and the others a fortnight .or so later. This should make them n little easier to flower in England than the type. The large fruits weigh down t'tie stems and even here take a long time to ripen. I have never known theffi to dehisce even when left on the plant until October. About four months after flowering I cut the green stems .and dry them off on the roof. Seed sown in August takes about two months to germ­ inate. Last year, after harvesting the crop, I suffered from intense irritation on the palms of my hands. There was no rash but a slight reddening. I have a good ' many seedlings· some of which. should flower in April 194 7.

Mr. Berry writes that. the fulva x savannarum cross produced most. of the types described by Dr. Small and that a great many of the seedlings of CACIQUE came true. I wish I could get seed and plants of the Louisiana types, and~ particularly, that 663

I could get again the white form . I should like to self-fertilise them and raise seedlings. As a whole the plants of the sub-section all appear to be fertile to each other 's poll~n and the:y should provide mat'3rial for the hybridist. In suitab'le natural conditionss and with water to distribute the l.:irge corky seeds , I can qaite imagi ne their becoming pernicious weeds in much the same way as Eichornia. crassipes.

Oncocyclus irises have never been very happy and vigorous with me. In my early days I foolishly tried to apply Ewbank' s precE,r-, ts in a climate to t ally differ ent from his, and killed them by treating then1 too austerely. La ter I planted them ,out in the Wes t ern Desert and they appeared to enjoy the sticky soil until my father-in--law had them up b.;cause he wanted to pl~nt peas . One reason why t hey proved difficult was be:cause I usually received lllinute, desi ccated frag­ ments which r squired a year or two, under ideal conditions , t o produce f lowers. Fat rhizomes of I . susiana r eceived from France f lowered very well. They were usuall y infested with aphis and even a prolonged soaking in soap solution failed to clean them. More recently s01:11: of them bave dona well gro°t'm in pots i n a mixture of Nile si.l t and old mortar. I flowered here: I.I. atrofusa., atropurpu:!'ea;1 Bal"'n-­ wr.ae:, Bisma:rckia.nas Lortetii, Maria.e, nazarena, pa:1.•a.doxa, Sar>i., sofa:rana, urmiensis and some of the more: recent species named by Dr . Dinsrnore in his revised edition · of Dr . Post's FZora of Syria.~ Pa'lestine and Sinai.

I should say that I ar,1 one of those people who pn,fer to lump together closely similar plants as varieties an

I have never seen I. gatesii but, in my opinion, I. lortet"ii is far more beautiful than i . :/.. any other Oncocyclus iris. The plate in THE GENUS IRIS doc:s not do justice to it. I only once tried Regelias here but lioogiana, Kor:o'lk.owii and stoZonifera failed to do anything in the excess ively arid conditions I gave them. I hope to t ry Hoogiana again. Of Regel -io-cyclus hybrids I flowered a good many but found them d'ifficult to keep. Of Pogo-cyclus hybrids, · MONSIEUR STEICHEN and ZWf.. NENB:sRG, bo th r aised '!:>y M. Denis at Bal arue? did very well.

· Of Pogoni ris "species 11 I grew II. arenaria., alhiaans~ aphyZla, AMAS, chamae­ irisj imbriocitri,~. KHARPUT, Koahii, Madonna, meUita., mesopotamica~ pa'llida. dalmatica, and suhbijlora. All grew and flowered r easonably weil out r equire a more r etentive soil than I had at t he time. In Cario, provided that they ar e allowed to rest in su.r.uner and receiv'7 partial shade, they do very well.

When. I came to Egypt I found a stock of I . mesopotamica var. Ricardi growing in a garden at R.atr~eh. So fa~ as I could learn the original s tock had been brought from Syria more than thir·ty years before. The owner used to lift the rhizomes after flowering and store them in sand until the autumn. I visited the garden some years l a t er, after the owner's death, but could find no trace of them.·

Fairly comoon in gardens was a white iris~ locally called fiorentina. It had certainly been est ablished for seventy years. I described the plant to Mr . Dykes, .:ind he was convince:d thnt it was I . a'lbicane. His denth occurred before I could send him plants. It is undoubtedly the plant f i gured in Plate xxxv of THE GENUS IRIS and described in the text as albicans. I . Madonna as I r eceived it did not resemble the other plant shown i n the plate.

Owing to my l ack of room, and because my interest was mainly in species, I did very l ittle wi th garden hybrids . In those days reany of them had poor stems and carried flimsy flowers which burned badly and had no subst ance. Some of them have 66~

flourished for twenty years in the garden of a friend of mine to whom I gave them. Most of them have long disappeared from catalogues. Among them were ALCAZAR, .ru1BASSADEUR, BALLERINE, CHASSEtJR, LENT A WILLIAMSON, LORD of JUNE, MAGNIFICA, MEDRANO~ HDLLE SCHWARZ, i·1ME DURR.AND, J .B. DlTI•iAS, MONSIGNOR, PRCSPER IJiUGIER and TROOST. There is no doubt that plants with southern blood are needed for this climate. .Any which will give a Bood stem and will uot burn in the conditions described by Professor Mitchell as existing in his Californian garden should do well in Egyp t . The f ew recent garden hybrids I saw in England last spring have decided me to start to grow them again. Colonel St ern very kindly sent me sorae plants which took three months to reach me but are doing well. When transport becomes easier I hope to get some more Califor nia bred plants as being likely to enjoy this climate •

. My efforts at raising seedlings have been completely undistinguished~ being direct~d to satisfying an inquisitive temperament by self-fertising the plants I had. I hope, however, to acquire a small stock from which to try to breed bearded ~lags with colour and substance which will prove durable in this strong sunshine. I also hope to do something with the spurias aud hexagonas and with I . unguicuiru?is . For the rest I should like to raise seedlings from all the iris species from the South Eastern United States and, in the desert garden, to raise healthy stocks of Reticulatas, Juno and Occocyclus irises for distribution to friends.

For books I depend on Irwin L)~1ch's BOOK OF THE IRIS, Sir Michael Fosterqs BULBOUS IRISES? W. R. Dykas' THE GENUS IRIS and A HANDBOOK OF GARDEN IRISES, aud E •.A . Bowles? MY GARDEN series which I regard as the most inspiring general book on gardening I have read.

One of the difficulties of a beginner lies in finding out where to get the plants he wants. I should like to ack..~owledge the help I received in procuring species from the following: Messrs. Barr & Sons, Mr . Amos Perry, Mr. Tom Smith of Wewry, Messrs. C.G. Van Tubergen & Sons , Messrs . Vilmorin, Andrieux et Cie.

It has been good fun growing these plants and I only wish that I had had the room and the means to treat them better. I also regret that, although my circle of acquaintance in the Middle East is extensive and would have been of great.value toe collector, I have never had the time to get away on any expeditions in the spring.

* Sintensis and haZophiia: Dykes gives musuimaniaa as a synonym for haZophiia.

* CACIQUE: In case any reader is puzzled, having seen CACIQUE described elsewhere as fuiva x foZiosa, it should b~ explained that the Louisiana irises are undergoing a simplication of classification in which they are being reduced to three species: II. foZiosa, hexagona, and fuiva, and intermediate hybrids. ********** 665 MEMBERSHIP LIST

Mrs. Charlotte M. Adams Mr. Clifford Berger Jr . 7802 Kyle St. R.R. #6 Sunland, Calif. 91040 Plymouth, Ind. 46563

Nrs. J. A . Adams Mr. Eckard Berlin 124 M.oana Ave. Kutzbergerwez 2 Nel son, New Zealand D- 795 Stberach Am Riss West Germany Mrs. Marlene Ahlburg Hohes Feld 22 Mr. Milton Berman 3171 Rotgesbuttel 5 Crow Hill Drive West Germany Fairport, N.Y. 1 4450

Mrs. Ada S. Alice Mr . Harry Bishop 560 Alice Road P.O. Box 284, Basket St. Port Angeles, Wash. 98362 Huntington. Ma. 01050

Ms. Ann D. Allen Mr. Marvin Black 12335 Orchard Road 124 N. - 181st St. Minnetonka, Minn. 553~3 Seattle, Wash. 981 33

Fosters. Allen Mr. Gordon Blackwell 615 - 34th St. 377 Marbledale Road Uashougal, Wash. 98671 Tuckahoe, N. Y. 10707

Georgiana C. Aston Mr. Keith W. Blankinship 1555 St•! - 133rd Ave. 12030 - 8th NE Tigard, Oregon 97233 Seattle, Wash. 981 25

Dr. R. C. Allen Mr. Thos. A. Bochinski Jr.· 1106 Larchwood Road 114 Fulton St. Mansfield, Ohio 44907' Boonton, N.J. 07005

Mr • Al an I~ • Amend Mrs . Carl Boswell I 702 E.. Home 1821 Gross Lake • Fresno, Calif. 93728 Concord, Calif. 98519 . .. A. Maryann N. Anning Mrs. F. Bourne La Cresta Gardens 1363 Swigart Road 12864 Viscaino, Calif. 94022 Barberton, Ohio 44203

Mrs . Ruth Bancroft Dr. Maurice Boussard P . O. Box 5126 2, Place Des Onze Steges Wal nut Creek, Calif. 94596 F: 55100, Berdun, France Mrs. Clifford A. Barnes Mrs. Bonnie Bowers 1806 NE - 73rd St. P oO. Box 44 Seattle, Wash 98115 San Quentin, Calif. 94964

R. ~- Beauchamp Mr. Leo Brewer P . O. Box 925 15 Vista Del Orinda National City, Calif. 92050 Orinda, Calif. 94563 666

1-ir. W.F. Brown Mrs. Gertrude Clark · Box 68 347 s .w. Camano Drive ,..... ~ Goldan, Mo. 65658 Camano Island, Wash. 98292 \ t George E. Bryant Harlan B. Clark 1909 Calle De Suenos 5532 West Geddes Place Las Cruces, N.M. 88001 Littleton, Col . 80123

Ruby Buchanan Mrs. R.H. Coleman 3666 Tech Ave. P.O. Box 340 Winston-Salem, N~C. 27107 Willits, Calif. 95490

Mrs. Ray A. Burch J.W. Collie r ·1605 s. 5th Ave. 3919 Hilltop Drive Yakina, Wash. 98902 Bryan, Texas 77801

Mrs. Waliraud G. Busbach Mrs. H.E. Collins Aeussere Sulzbacher Str. 18 Cambridge Road, R.D. 1 D-8500 Nuernberg Tauranga, New Zealand West Germany Mrs. Verna C. Cook George c. Bush 6924 Pacific Highway East 1739 Menory Lane Extd. Tacomar Wash. 98~24 York, Penn 17402 Mr. Emmet A . Cooney Panayott Peter Callas 1423 - 29th Ave. 922 - 12th St . San Francisco, Calif. 94122 Boulder, Col. 80302 ..... Ms. Joan Cooper Mrs . Grover C. Carter 212 w. Co, Road C 1212 Tucker Road Saint Paul, Minn. 55113 Hood River, Oregon ·97031 11.irs. Jill Copeland Mrs. c.:r. Catton Wolf La ke Fish Hatchery R.D. 2 Rt. 1, M- 43 Hastings, Hawkes Bay Mattawan, Miss. 49071 New Zealand Cottage Gardens Mrs. Thelma Chatfield 22549 Center St. 2403 s.w. - 122nd Place Hayward, Calif. 94541 Seattle, Wash. 981~6 Mr. B. LeRoy Davidson Mr. Raymond J. Chesnik 911 Western Ave . , #200 ~18 Buena Creek Road -Seattle, Wash. 98104 San Marcus, Calif. 92069 Charles H. Dawe Mrs . W.G. Childe·rs 8722 Washington Ave . Bowles Route, Box 215 Brookfield, Ill. 60513 tiamlin, W. V. 25523 Mrs. Lucy E. Delany The Christchurch Iris Circle 13 Gladstone Road 16 Idris Road, Fendalton Richmond, Nelson Christchurch 5 New Zealand New Zealand Mrs . Dolores Denney ~77 Upper Mesa Road Santa Monica, Calif. 90402 i•.irs. Ha~ry Doonan r1rs . Louis C. Grothe.us Box 127 12373 Boones Ferry Road Startup, Wash. 98293 La ke Oswego, Oregon 97034 Dr. Richard L. Doutt Phillip Gue rin 11El Glen Oaks Drive 2127 We st 22 Pla ce Santa Barbara, Ca lif. 93108 Chicago, Ill 60608

Mrs . Daniel Dougan Mrs. RoJ . Gully 901 Society Ave. 3 Louis Ave. Albany, Geo. 31701 HawthoLndene, South Australia 5051 Australia M;J. ry D. Dunnell 2208 NE - 177th St. Mr. IrJ.J. Gunther Sea ttle, Wash. 98155 7 L.! O Crest Road Del 1'1ar, Ca lif. 92014 1,1ary Duvall Route 1, Box 142 r-lr. Edwar d Halas Dassel, Minn. 55325 P.O. Box 2682 De troitf Mich. 48231 Mr. Philip Edinger P.O. Box 637 Mr. Tony Hall Cloverdale, Calif. 950 25 Herbaceous Alpine Division Roya l Botanic Gardens . Dr. Robert H. Egli Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AE Avenue de Sully 67 England Ch 181~ Latour de Peilz Switzerland ivlrs. Melba Hamblen 2778 West 5600 South I:tr. Jame s L . Ennenga Roy, Utah 8~067 1621 N. - 85th St. . . Omaha, Neb. 68114 Ms . Constance Ha nsen 1931 N. - 33rd St. j Gudrun Ewald · Lincoln City, Oregon 97367 3175 Leiferde Eegdfeld 3, West Germ~ny -: . Mr. Larry L. Ha rder Ma ple Tree Gardens Ivlr . Eerbert F.ischer Ponca, Neb . 68770 ··· 17985 - 40th Ave. Surrey, B.C. 1 Canada V,3~ .N, Phyllis M. Harringt9r1 P.O. Box 222 . i'1r. Eubert Fische r Parsons, Ka n. 67357 l-ieac1o'4? Gardens 16 w. 331 - 63rd ·st. Hawkes Bay Group . Hinsdale, Ill. 60521 N£w Ze2.1anc\ Ir~. s Society c/o Hrs. I .H. Simpson Ms. Jessie J . rord Kenilworth Road 1801 s. - 16th Ave. Hastings , Hawkes Bay, New . Zealgnd_ : Yakir.:.a, 1/fnsh. 98902 .Mrs. S ~I. Hayakciwa Mr . Lawr6nCe FrieQrnan P . O. Box 100 304 Le Roi Road Mill Valley, Calif. 949~1 Pittsburg, Penn. 15208 t-1s. Ev0lyn Hayes Mr. L. Glover 611 S . Lemoore AVeo 17 Shaughnessy Blvd. Lemoore, Calif. 932~5 Willowdale, Ont. , Canada M2J 1H4 668 fir. Charles Baynes The Huntington Libra ry 777 E . Fairmont 115 1 Oxford Road Fresno, Calif. 93704 San Marino, Calif. 91108

Mrs. Dale Heatherly Clive F. Innes Esq. 2501 Hemlock Drive San Antonto 1, Torre Del Charro Visalia , Calif. 93277 Las Rotas, Denia, Alicante, Spain Mrs . Henry B. Heilman AZ t ernate add:Pess 1615 Russe ll Road Holly Gate, Ashington, Sussex RH20 3BA. Leba non, Penn. 17042 Ms . Jean S. Ireland Mrs . P.L. Hembree 1526 Gravenstein Hwy . , N. 951 Brown Road Sebastopol, Calif. 95472 Bridg·ewciter Twp., N . J . 08807 Iris Society of Minnesota Mrs. Mary A. Hendry c/o Ms. Joan Cooper t'.lidway, 'l'enn. 37809 212 ·w. co. Road c St. Paul, Minn 55113 Ms . El eanor Hill 1577 E . 22nd St. Mrs. Craig Jacobs Tulsar Oka. 74114 605 Colonel Dewees Road Wayne, Penn. 19087 Ms. Marjorie P. Hoelzel 2 Lynbrook Road The Japan Iris Society Wilmington, Oregon 19804 17 Kitamomodani, Minami-Ku Osaka City, Japan ,·' Mr . John Holden I. l 1319 Gateway Blvd. Ms. Genevieve H. Jasper Ridgecrest, Calif. 93555 2650 N . Desert Ave . Tucson, Ariz. 85712 ~'.ir . Geo. M. Hotchkiss Ms . Martha D. Johnson 213 ·west Stonegate Road 320 Allison Peoria, Ill. 61614 McPhe rson, Kas . 67460 Dorothy C. Howard Mr . Esmond Jones 226 E. 20th St. 8 Lodge St. Tulsa, Oka. 74115 Forest Lodge, N.S.W. 2037 Australia I•1rs. Hattie Hubbard 16328 - 25th St. NE Dr . Grady Kennedy Seattle, Wash. 98155 9610 Todd Mill Road Huntsville, Ala. 35803 Mr. Robert P. Hubley 9230 Colorado Ave . Mr . Keith Keppel Arlington, Calif. 92503 P . O. Box 8173 Stockton, Calif. 95208 Mrs . Dorothy D. Hujsak 3227 s. Fulton Mr. Gerard Knehans Jr. Tulsa, Oka. 74135 Route 1 Owensville, Mo. 65066 Mrs. E.F . Hulbert 59 Dandy Drive Mr s . Ha rold Krehbte l Cos Cob, Conn. 06807 5044 Sleater- Kenne:y Road NE. Olympia, Wash. 98506 669

Dr . Donald Wo Koza Gera ld W. May 1151 E. Idaho Aveo 1006 Woodland Park Drive St. Paul, Minn. 55106 Delafield, Wis . 53018

1.1rs . William E . Langford H.N. Metcalf 1121 Highland Drive Dept. of Plant & Soil Science Henderson, Texas 75652 Montana State University Bozeman, Montana 59717 Jas. E. Lattie 101 Hardie Drive Leo Michl Moraga, Calif. 9 4556 Brice Route Lebanon, Mo. 65536 Lewis & Adele Lawyer 4333 Oak Hi ll Road Ms . Mary Millman Oakland, Calif. 94065 3127 Eton Ave. Berkeley, Calif. 94705 Ms. Loria Leith 3175 Prirr~ose Ave. Marshall Mitchell Santa Rosa, Calif. 95401 P .O. Box 82 Moe, Victoria 3825, Australia Mrs . Lucille E. Lewallen 243 S. 3rd Ave. Mrs. Home r N. Myg·rant Upland, Calif. 91786 6026 Plumas Ave. Richmond, Calif. 9 480~ Loren Lichty 1140 N. Coronado St. Sidney B. Mitchell Iris Society Los Angeles, Calif. 90026 c/o Clara Mangin, Librarian 1133 Seminary Ave. Dr. Gordon Loveridge Oakland, Calif. 94621 7 West Prom Manly, N.SoW. 2095 Marilyn Mollicone Imstrulia 49 Westwood Road Augusta, Maine 04330 Ernest G. B. Luscombe At Mill Jouse, Rosemary Lane, National Agricultural Library Colyton E~l3 6JR, East Devonshire U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Engla nd Beltsville, MD 20705

Sharon McAllister Hachiro Negishi Route 1, Box 1866 Torno Institute of Arboriculture Las Cruces N.M. 88001 526 Kido, Tatebayashi, 374 Japan Mr. John McAnlis 2 2820 Caja lco Road Mrs . Enily Eugene Nelson Perris, Ca lif 92370 19269 DeHavilland Drive Saratoga, Calif. 95070 Mrs . J.E. Mcclintock 1017 North Eddy Mrs . Ulmer H. Nenon Car lsbad, N.M. 88220 7 Court Place Chatham, Vir. 24531 Mrs . Marie R. McGahee • 1010 Bayfield Drive, S .E · ,~ New Zealand Iris Society Huntsville , Ala. 35802 · · c/o Mrs . H.E. Collins R.R. 1, Touranga ; New Zealand Dr. Wm. G. McGarvey 1 Etwilla Lane, R.D. #3 Mr. Samuel N. Norris Oswego, N.Y. 13126 R.R . 2, Owensburg, Ken. 42301 670

Mrs. Stayton Nunn Dr. S.J. Preece 6135 Sugar Hill Drive Dept. of Botany, University of Montana Houston, Texas 77057 Missoula , Montana 59812

Hr. Lee F . Nydegge r Robert: Raabe 29 Crossland Ave. P . O. Box 22, Wentworthville Salem, N. J . 08079 N. S . W. 2145, Australia

Henry I ., Ogan Mr. Me lvin Radema cher 5501 Pennsylvania 7708 - 64th Ave . N. St. Lou.is , Mo. ·63111 Minneapolis, Minn. 55428

Mrs. Arthur Oppe n Mrs. Albe rt Ray 604 Clarmar Drive , N. E . Route 1, Box 7 <1 Salem, Ore gon 97301 Mabton, Wash. 98935

Clay H. Os borne Mr. Gomer Reece P. O. Box 490 1843 E . Brown Ave. Applegate ; Calif . 95703 Fresno, Calif . 93703

Mrs. Birdie Padavich Dean R. Reed 12626 - 424th SE P.O . Box 126 North Be nd, Wash. 98045 Ionganoxie, Kas . 66086

Dr. u. Pa in Miss Thelma Reichstein Dept. of Biology 14 Rowland Road, Magill, Adelaide University of New Brunswick South Australia 5072, Australia Fredericton, N.B. E3B 5A3 Canada Mrs. Lore na M. Re id 41886 McKenzie Highway Ms. Dorothy Pais Springfield, Oregon 97477 4141 Popular Richton Pa rk, Ill 60471 Mrs. Tzetta M. Reid 7160 North Fork Road SE Robert J . Parker Snoqualmie, Wash. 98065 2649 Longwood Ave . Los Ange l 0 s, Calif. 90016 Mrs. Wm . M. Rhodes P.O. Box 78 L.M. Paolucci Osage r Oka. 74 054 25 Downs Road Stevenson, Conn. 06491 Olive J . Rice 1914 Napa Ave. Mr . E.J~ Pasahcw Berkele y, Calif . 94707 6 235 Syra cuse Lane Sa n Diego, Calif. 92122 Mr . R . C . Richards 1048 Circle City Drive Mr. Wm. H. r>eck Corona, Calif. 917]0 P . O. Box 239 Oyster Ba y, N~Y. 11771 Mr . Bruce Richardson t 92 Twenty Rd. E . Mr. Wm. C. Phillips R.R. 2, Hannon, Ont. LOR IPO 14001 Sha dy Oaks Drive Canada Mabelvale , Ariz. 72103 Mrs. c.c. Rockwe ll Jr. Dr. Thos R. Pray P.O. Box 70 4500 Palos Verdes Drive Ea st Fentress , Texas 78622 Ranch~ Pal~s Verdes, Calif . 90274 671

.Nrs . Audrey C. Roe Dr . J ean Segui 29130 Triunfo Drive 11, Rue Du Palais J:l.goura, CAlif . 91301 11000 Carcassonne, Fra nce

I

Herber t F. Rommel James H. Shivers Pitts Head Tave rn 164 Dudley Roa d 77 Bridge St. Wilton, Conn. 06897 Newport, R. I. 02840 Kim E . Sikoryak Julian F. Ross 2101 Cheye nne St. 402 Hountain Gap Road, SE Golden, Col. 80401 Huntsvil l e , Ala. 35803 Mrs. Thomas w. Simpson r,'.lrs ..Murtel Ross 200 Ridgemede Road 1337 Fell Ave. Baltii:nore, MD 21210 North Burnaby, B.C . V5B 3Z l Cana da Mr . Da vid B. Sindt 1331 West Cornelia Mr s. Joe !.:i. Routh Jr. Chicago , Ill. 60657 Route 5 , Box 531A Pale stine, Texas 75801 Mr . & Mrs. W.G. Sindt 14252 - 15th St. S. M:rs. A . J. Rumme l Afton, Minn. 55001 Panorama Farms R.D . 1, Box 385 Samuel F. Sipe Flee twood, Penn. 19522 Kinneagh , The Curragh Co . Kildare, Erie Mrs . Orpha L. Salsman 14016 -· 8th Ave. s . Winter add:t>ess Seattle , wash. 98168 The Swan Lc,ke Club, Apt. D-1 4140 Crayton Road Hr . Robe rt Schreine r Naples, Florida 33940 3625 Quinaby Road, NE Salem, Or egon 97303 Mr. Robert P. Smith 2119 Parker St. i':Jirs. Richard Schroter Berkeley, calif. 94704 211 La Espiral Orinda, Calif. 9 4563 Robertson V. Smith ' . ' 2369 - 103rd Ave. William A. Scott t • Oakl and, Calif. 94603 2068 w. Lancaster Bled. . : :·. Lancaster, Calif. 93534 Mr . & Mrs. Wm . F . Snell Route 1, Box 183 t·1r . Lawrence E. Sayre Outlook, 1Ha sh. 98938 192' Tharp Drive Moraga, Calif. 94556 Mrs. R.L. Sparrow 16 I dris Road, Fendalton Mr . Jim Seeden ~hristchurch 5, New Zealand 13450 Willa ndale Road Roge rs, Minn. 5537~ Mrs ~ Cnrdline Spiller P.O. Box 476 · ··;Kentfield, Calif. 94904 672

I1Iz-. Pete Stadle:.:- Mrs. F. W. li'!arburton 940 W. Madison St. 2 Warburton Lane Pcntiac, Ill . 6176~ Westboro, Mass. 01581 ..... t F:!:'ank L. Stevens Mrs. Florence Weed 4110 Shelby '14 17 Bagley N. , Ap.t. 2 Ama rillo, Texas 79109 Seattle , Wash. 98103 I-~ s. Wynnaline Stinson Mr. John Weiler 2035 1'1.lhar.tbra St. 1146 W. Rialto D~llas, Texas 75217 Fre sno, Calif.·· ~f37·os

Mrs. Henry· Story Ms. Ruth S. Wilder Route 4 2219 Matthews SE Huntington, Ind. 46750 Huntsville , Ala. 35801 Florence E :. Stout l1rs. Robe rt F . Wilkins Sr. 150 N. Main St. 7536 Waupun Road Lombard, Ill. 60148 Oshkosh, Wis. 54901. . Helen W. Tarr Mr. Anthony Willott 820 Riedy Road 26231 Shaker Blvd. Lisl0, Ill. 60532 Beechwood, Ohio 44122 Ms . Hary Taylor Dr . V.L. Winkle r Blue Spring Farm 670 Pine St. Moran Ro ad Dee rfie ld, Ill. 60015 Franklin, Ind. 1706~ Dr. J.C. Wister . ! Mr. J.E. Tearington 735 Harvard Ave. 13902 s. Manor ·Road Swarthmore; Penn. 19081 Hawthorne, Calif. 90250 :Mrs. J .A. Witt r~irs. JoG 'l.'errill 16516 - 25th Ave. , NE ., Route 1, Box 110 Seattle , Wash . 98155 Burlington, I

PUBLICATIOi.'!S AVI.1. IIABLE FROM SIGNA

It has always been the policy of the Species Group to obta in s upplies of iris species publications, as publ ished by other iris associations, notably the British Iris Society, and to distributate them to our members. Some of the early ones were distributed free to current members, but at the present time it is the policy to make a charge for these items to recover their cost and remailing charges . Below is a list and short description of what we have on hand at this time.

SIGNA : The publication of the SPECIES IRIS GROUP OF NORTH AMERICA, distributed free to members of the Group . There have been 21 issues to this time and all the back i s sues are available at $1 . 50 per copy . The earl y issues (1-10) which ran to an average of 24 pages each are in very short supply, but the latter ones which mostly ran to about 48 pages are in good supply.

SPECIES IRIS STUDY MANUAL~ A reference publication of the SPECIES I RIS GROUP edited and p~inted by B. LeRoy Davidson. I t is an ongoing publication, published and distributed from time to time on no set dates, and free to current members as i s SIGNA. It is a digest of i nformation pertaining to species of the genus Ir,,is , both f rom horticultural and botanical viewpoints. Prepared f or both the novice and the advanced student gardener. The manual to date consists of 100 pages and each increment published covers a single ser ies, section or sub- genus etc. To make proper use of these new parts one should have the inital part, especially the three appendices with illustrations . All the .parts of the STUDY Yi.ANUAL published so far are offered f or $5.00.

THE GENUS IRIS, Subsection Sibiricae: Edited by Gr ey Wilson and published by the British Iris Society. A 24 page publication dealing solely with the Siberian Iris species. Fu1.l descriptions of each species and excellent line drawings. Only one copy left at . 50¢

A GUIDE TO THE PACIFIC COAST IRISES : Written by Victor A. Cohen and published by the British Iris Society. 40 pages of descriptions and including photos; two pages of them in colour, of the iris species found in the States of Washington, Oregon and California, commonly known as the PCI Mr. Cohen writes from personal inspection of these irises in their native locations and the booklet is well i llustrated with fine line drawings, We have only three copies l eft which are offe red et $1 . 50 each.

AN ALPHi-"\.BETICriL TABLE and cultivation guide to the specie s of THE GENU S IRIS: Complied and edited by the late Angela Marchant and and published by the British Iris' Society in 1974. This replaces and brings up to date a previous guide published originally in 1949 and reprinted in 1954. 32 pages as compared to the original 12, a revision following Dykes' classification SYE!tem and no t intended to be fully complete and the last word on species iris . Contains many synonyms included with the "good" species and a handy quick r efer ence. We have a fairl y good supply of this publication and offer it at $1 . 50 per copy.

Jl'.1PANESE IRIS BROCHURE (from Akir a Ho rinaka) : I don't have the Japanese translation of the title of this publication, but have been t old it is in the nature of a gazette, not a catalogue. The text is all Japanese (except for the latin species names) but over half its 18 pages are the most magnif icent colour illustrations of i ris and iris species I have ever seen. Commercial catalogues here don' t come even close to the quality of these repruductions, many of which are 3/4 and full page pictures. 674

Not all the pictures are iris, as there are some spring flowering bulbs shown, but most of them are iris wit~ some magnificent photos of the showy Japanese iris cultivars. I have been informed by Mr. Lorenzo Paolucci (who had a Japanese friend translate some of the names) that these varieties are available from him, Melrose Gardens or Lorenzo Recd. The "Gazette" is a collector's item for the photos alone, even if you don't read Japanese, (it was sent to me on that basis b y Horinaka) . We . have managed to obtain 18 copies and offer them at $3.50 each. ORDERS FOR ANY OF THE ABOVE PUBLICATIONS SHOULD BE SENT TO OUR CURRENT SECRETARY- TREASURER : Mrs . Grace Carter, 1212 Tucker Rd. Hood River, Oregon 97031 ,',*********

ED ITOR IAL COMMEMTS Bruoe Richardson

I might as well start these colID'Ilents with the same statement as a year ago, as today, Nov . 27th, is the same day I wrote them last year. Also our first snowfall,·· so the outside fall work is offically over, even if a few tag ends remain unfinished. I'll date this issue October as usual, and perhaps sometime I might actually get it out Oct. 1st. I did part of it in September, but then the apples crune on, three times the crop of last year and with the wonderful Indian summer that followed one was encourged .tq stick with outside chores and I really did get a lot of things done that had b·een waiting a long time.

No iris convention attending this year, but the highlight of our summer was a , trip west with our trailer to Montana and later Yellowstone Park. I missed connect- ions with Homer as he was away picking cherries a couple of hundred miles north at the Flathead Experimental Farm, but we did see the University and the experimental plots of iris, .a couple of acres or so, all of which had to go this fall with Homer's upcoming retirement in the spring. I had never seen the Northwest and found it a facinating place, just as much so as the Southwest we had traveled a few years previously. Next time we'll get all the way to the coast and see what Oregon and Washington have to show us.

This is the year of change for your Executive and I am now the only original left, but Roy is sti11 in the wings and you will be hearing from hini ·from time to time. Jean has chang.ed hats, but I am afraid with no work reduction in her neVI position as CHAIRMAN, even if this is on a temporary basis for a year or so. A sort, of sidestep to retirement. Jean and her husband visited Hamilton this summer and we had a wonderful day visiting around the City end the farm here. Wish more of you could come and visit us. There is some question as to how long we will be here as I have concluded purchasing 300 acres of forest land north of here in the resort and vacation country and may build a new home there in two or three years if our health continues. Incidentally the trip west this summer did wonders for my wife who was just recovering from a case of shingles and facial Faralysis. Still a bit. of it left though, a very persistent case. A few things didn't get in this issue that might have; the B.I.S. Year Book review didn't turn up and I decided not to print some errors or omissions found in THE WORLD OF IRISES. Closer observation showed most of these "errors" to be more a matter of varying opinion of experts(?) or otherwise. BGe did a darn good job of a difficult task. Hope you do enjoy the B.I.S. reprints and get a bit of information from them - I di d. Good gardening to all. ~**** \ ',