... ·.. ;:' f\ · -- ~ SIGNA , , :. _. ~ • ; • • : \ I •. I . ,; IBE SPECIES IRIS 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 Iris setosa Pallas Ex Link Ernest G.B . Luscombe 626 Miniature Irises for the Rock Garden Earl Roberts 628 Seed 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 Taxonomy 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 seeds . ·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<mments that help ~ogive our publication balance. We'd also like to uncover any lat.ent artists ·xn our ranks, for additional pen and ink illustrations. We hope to learn who our photographers are, so that we can enlist their aid in up6rading the A.I.S. sp~ies slide sets. A further annotmcement about ~lides will appear in the April, 1979 issue.of SIGNA . 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 Siberia, where a very severe. climate and frozen soil conditions are long sustained, so that where the plant 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.