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I \·. :,•.•• IBE SPEC IES( IRIS STUDY GROUP
OF NORIB AMERICA THE SPECIES IRIS STUDY GROUP OF. NORTH AMERICA April, 1980 - No. 24 OFFICIERS OF THE SOCIETY
CHAIRMAN Jean Witt 16516 - 25th, NE., Seattle, Wash. 98155 SECRETARY Grace Carter 1212 Tucker Road TREASURER Hood River, Oregon 97031 SEED EXCHANGE Mary Duvall Route 1, Box 142 DIRECTOR Dassel , Minnesota 55325 SPECIES R6BIN Joan Cooper 212 \'I. County Road C DIRECTOR St. Paul, Minnesota 55113 SPECIES SLIDE Dorothy Hujsak 3227 S. Fulton Ave . CHAIRMAN Tulsa, Oklahoma 74135 BACK ISSUES AND Maryann Anning La Cresta Gardens, 12864 Viscaino Road PUBLICATIO~ SALES Los Altos Hills, California 94022 EDITOR OF SIGNA Bruce Richardson 7249 Twenty Road, R.R. 2, Hannon, Ontario, . LOR IPO, Canada. EDI TOR OF THE LeRoy Davidson 911 Western Ave., #200, Seattle, Wash. 98104 STUDY MANUAL B.
CONTENTS Page No.
Chairman's Message Jean Witt 767 Editorial Comments Bruce Richardson 768 Species Iris Seed Germination Ruby Buchanan 769 (Sub Titles): AIS Bulletin Articles 771 Letters 772 Book Reviews 772 Dr. Egli 776 Samuel F. Sipe 777 Dr. Boussard 779 Samuel N. Norris 780 Frank Chowing 782 Jean Witt 783 Bee Warburton 784 Factors Influencing Germination Dr. F. Rando lph 785 Drawing - Pat Farmer's Cal-Sibe J ean Witt 797 Drawing - The Cal.Sibe GARDEN WAVES Jean Witt 798 Drawing - I. Lactea. Jean Witt 798 Cal-Sibe Update Jean Witt 799 Robin Report Joan Cooper 800 NADA - Houseplant Joan Cooper 801 More From A Robin Elaine Hulbert 802 Iris Of The Wastelands Dr. J . Seque 803 The Culture Of Louisiana Irises Joseph IC. Mertxweiller 804 PC Ns Leo Michl 806 Numerical Studies of I . pumila Roy Davidson 807 Key To The Sections Of The Genus Iris B. I.S. SPECIES GROUP 808 Questions: Roy Davidson 810 Experimenting With Iris unguicular'is Charles Bedrock 811 Descriptions: I . dykesii & I . phragmitetorum Roy Davidson 812 Letters Our Members 813 767.
CHAIRMAN'S 1vi£SSAGE Jean Wili
1979 has been a year of continued progress for SIGNA and 1980 has already show~ more of the same with an influx of new members. The SEED EXCHANGE under the directr .ion of Mary Duvall, with the able assistance of the IRIS SOCIETY OF MINNESOTA, has done ·exceptionally well. Requests were many and even more seed could be used. Our status as an AIS SECTION entitles those of our members who are also AIS members to pay their SIGNA dues through AIS if they wish, and would greatly reduce the workload of our SECRETARY-TREASURER, who lacks t he computer our past secretary-treasurer, Homer Metcalf made use of at his university. Our special thanks to Homer for his many years of faithful service on SIGNAtS BEHALF. Your executive is still working on some minor revisions to our by-laws to satisfy the IRS re a tax free status and to empha5izo both our non-profit and public service aspect~ One public service feature has already been put into effect in that species iris rhizomes have already been supplied to some public gardens, such as the Devonian Botanic Garden at the Univc;rsity of Alberta, Edmonton, the Atlanta Botanical Garden, Atlanta, Georgia, which is just starting its collection and as well a group of Cal Sibe and other beardless interseries hybrids have gone to the Missouri Botanic Garden at St. Louis, Missouri. At least two other gardens have expressed interest in starting beds and/or adding to existing collections. The collection at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton, Ontario, has been added to on several occasions over the past several years. So far, your executive conunittee has supplied most of the plants, but we hope to tap the membership for contributions, particularly the rarer species that are hard to come by or unusual variations (such as the many varied: I, pumiZa colours for example) as th~ program expands so that it will be truly a society venture. · The AIS Secretary, Carol Ramsey, sends inquiries about species our way, and I have fielded a number of questions this past summer about sources, etc. If you are now selling species, be sure that Bruce Richardson, our Editor, receives a copy of your catalogue or listing, so that he can keep our published list of sources up to date. Providing this information is one of SIGNA's important services.
Work on the teaching slide collection for use in judges' training is nearly complete--this will be similar to the set that Roy Davidson showed at the species sessions in Huntsville. At the request of the AIS Slide·Chairman Dr. D. C. Nearpass we're currently in the process of assembling a second AIS species slide set from AIS. extras and SIGNA duplicates. This will feature a large number of Junos, donated r ecently by Frank Kalich of Albuquerque, New Mexico. With our own SIGNA slide set, available through our slide chairman, Dot Hujsak, this will make four touring species slide shows. I am also pleased t o report that the slide copying process seems to have improved greatly since the last time I had such work done, and current copies ~re virtually indistinguishable from originals in brilliance. So keep the slide ~ollections in mind while photographying this spring. We can always use additional pictures. We have also begun to collect material for imput into the next revision of the Judges' Handbook. It would be most helpful if SIGNA members who are also judges, would write to me about species judging problems that have cropped up at their shows . We've already pinpointed a couple of items, but we need imput from various sections of the country, as I'm sure the problems vary from area to area. So much for executive activities. What was new in species irises in 1979? More is probably going on within our ranks than I get wind of, but I can tell you that at· l east two Cal-Sibe projects are underway. Several members have started ' t
long-ra,nge pro~~s, to dev.elop Pacific Coast Native irises for parts of the U.S. where they.were: formerly ·considered impossible. Dr. Paim's search for additional colour fo;1.1I1s of I. setosa in Newfoundland has failed to turn up anything new, but I understand that they now have a pinkish form in Japan. I . setosa f . nasuensis · bloomed for me for the first time, a beautiful blue, certainly a fine addition to the varieties in cultivation.
If you haven 1 t seem X ?a:rdaneanda nor1•isii itself, watch for its colour picture in the ads and/or catalogues of Park Nursery Co., Greensville, South Carolina. PACIFIC HORTICULTURE, winter issue 1979-80, p. 55, has a note by Jean Collins of New Zealand on the irid Dietes robinsoniana., the wedding iris of Lord Howe Isl and . . Ferra:ria unduZata~ another irid, is shown in colour in the same issue on p. 28 in an article SOUTI-iAFRICAN BULBS AT HOME by Robert Ornduff. Remember our editor when you see items of this sort in your r eading--collecting references on Iris and irids calls for full membership participation if we are going to catch everything we should!
We have a host of new members- -they need to know, through SIGNA, how to grow species in a wide variety of climates, so please share your experiences. The winter has been kinder to irises in Seattle this year than last, even if thunderclouds did dump some snow on the reticulatas and stylosas yesterday. (ED: Jean's lette1• was dated Ma:reh 18/80) Bost wishes to all our far flung membership, for the best iris season over in 1980. ***
PDBLICA'I'IONS AVAILABLE
SIGNA Issues 1 to 23 $1 .50 each THE IRIS STUDY MANUAL $5.00 fo r the compl ete set A GUIDE TO THE PACIFIC COAST IRISES $ 1. 50 ( only 2 copi es left). ALPHABETICAL TABLE & SPECIES GUIDE $1 . 50 (only 12 copies left) Send requests for any of the above to: Maryann M. Anning, La Cresta Gardens, 12864 Viscaino Road, Los Altos Hills, California 94022, U.S.A.
ED ITORIAL COMMENTS Btu.tee 1Uc.ha.!td60 n
A request came in too late for SIGNA 23 from Burdella M. Rhodes to mention the upcoming AIS Convention in Tulsa, Okla. April 29th to May Jrd. I am afraid SIGNA 24 will reach you too late to give details here, but do hope it is successful and all in attendance have an enjoyable time. This issue of SIGNA has been largely devoted to germination information, but I stress this is not the last word on the subject by any means. Read the many and varied solutions suggested for the successful germination of species seeds and pick one that is reasonable for the facilities you have available. The most elaborate rray not always be the best and certainly embryo culture is suitable for only a very few of us. I hope these suggested methods will result in many of you writing in of your experiences or methods--whether successful or not. Knowledge of a bad method can save someone else a lot of frustration. Please let me hear from you; lots of room to pr int ideas!
The winter here in the east and in this part of Ontario, as well as the north, has been an odd one. The heaviest snowfall was 5" and for. the first tµne in 40 years never had to snowplow. the lane, not even once. No drifts anywhere. Oniy three nights below zero, but the frost has gone deeply ana.·may meian a: late spring in spit e of the bare ground as this is written March 2Jrd. *** SPECIES IRIS SEED GEf I searched my files and sent Ruby photocopies of what I had and a 'list of names to contact for expert information. So f ar so good, but from here o·n things bt:?.gan to go wrong. Most of the experts disclaimed any expert knowledge of the subject; the ones that replied that is - some did not. A few sent articles or descriptions for which we are deeplb grateful. One by Dr. Lovegrove appeared i n SIGNA 23. Others are reproduced in this issue i n whole or in part. Ruby felt a deep frustration at the whole affair to obtain information, and her apparent inability to assemble the conflicting and confusing information she did receive into some usabZe order. The final blow was having to make an unexpected move late last fall to her br other's home, moving what iris she could under adverse muddy conditions - alone - into hasty and i ll-prepared beds that were sure to result in heavy winter losses, not to mention the Zoss of those left behind. Coupled with this were attacks of physical ailments and lastly near blindness. Enough to drive a weaker woman insane rather than just frus-trated! The last straw ~s losing or mis placing in the house move wr.at written notes she had assembled; so she sent mi3 what she had and called the whole thing a failure. · · · 11 The measure of her "failure - or success - wit l have to be deaided by our mem bers as they read what f ollows, but I wuld Zike to suggest that -j'aiZure· ·means not to have accomplished something and Ru.by has certainly accomplished something, in fact a great dea.l, in getting this subject before our members. Failure to get the last word on it is obviously impossible, as the sources of information grow with the yedi>s. I sincerely hope just writ1:ng these lines wiU encourge our knowledgeable members to get busy and write of their experiences, and bear in mind that we don't want t o · just hear of successes, the things that go wrong are important too and need reporting to try and avoid having someone else make the same errors. No doubt as well some of you will disagree with these statements or methods and you too we want to hear from. Future · issues of SIGNA are waiting to print your comments and report your results. I most sincerely want to congratulate Mrs. Buchanan. for her efforts on behalf of the Group and to thank her for attempting a Zong and -trying job under personal difficulties, which personally I consider she has· done weZZ in view of the circum stances SU1'1'ounding it. 7i'O . Parts of what foUows Wel'e Wl'itten by Ruby and part by myseZf to filZ in gaps .. The cwtio Zes by Mr. 8ipe and Dr. Eg Zi · are as they wrote them. [):r. Bous sard 's was , sZightZy edited and a pa:ragrapn of a personaZ nature Zeft out. Letters from others· we1•e printed in pCD:'t or excerpted or in some cases just the thougfrt relJl'itten for brevity. The articZe by rt.r. RandoZph is oZder materiaZ, but re produced here because of it& e."Chaustive treatment of the subject of inhibitors and what oan be done about them in iris seed. Since this aI'ticZe is not readiZy avaiZ abZe to our members~ and onZy briejf,y mentioned in GARDEN IRISES, I am su1"e it wiZ Z be a worthy conoZusion to the subject of germination of iris seed in this i ssue of · SIGNA, which ws pZanned to be the main topio. When the SIGNA editor asked me to attempt research concerning the methods of planting various iris species seeds to obtain maximum gennination, I little knew what lay ahead. To each SIGNA member who responded to my pleas for information - lllY fervent gratitude! To those of you who still have the matter "under considerationri; just waiting for a convenient time to share your experiences with us - we are patiently awaiting your l etters! 1b.ere are so many questions still unanawered, even though serious planti ng of 1r1s seeds has been going on for a hundr P.d years or more . But this is perhaps understandable, given the numerous iris species growing in varying habitats, and growers attempting to grow them under conditions varying widely from these native habitats.However; every question answered adds to the eventual knowledge and success in protecting and conserving our "wild flags" . It has been suggested that whatever resulted from my efforts in r esearch might be treated.alphabetical iy - to correspond with the classification in the SPECIES STUDY MANUAL - but this I found impo ssible, since so many of the species have evade If one has a "spare" refrigerator, the s eeds can be sealed in small plastic bags with a f ew drops of water to moisten them and stored at just above the freezing point for a month or two before palnting in early spring. Works nicely with siberian seed according to Currier McEwen with germination percentages of around 80%. 771. The ot;her ·:v.ita,i cltie is to keep the seeci-pots, flats, beds or whatever really moist (but not sopping wet) until the seedlings are ready to be lined out. This method of storing in a refrigerator js especially handy for those who receive seeds in mid winter with adverse planting conditions outside. An unheated greenhouse or col d frame co~ld serve the same purpose. If you save your cans (size 2 .or 2½), the ends can be rei:?ov.:.:d and the cans push.ed in.to the grour1d in ~.he seed-row. Remove the soil from the top and replaced , with 'pianting soil, with each lot of seed being planted in its own can and labelled, covering with one half to three quarters of an inch of soil and another one half · inch of coarse· sand ov:er the surface. ThC:: cans should be numbered and a record kept of the position in the row. As an added safeguard against losing labels a strip of aluminium, stamped or punched with the seed lot numb er can be buried deep in the can or placed on the bottom of the pot where it cannot be lost . One l ady I know places written labels in glass or plastic sea-led tubes and buries them beside her plants in sandy soil to l~eep vandals frma identifying them (to steal) or animals from removi~g tha labels to play with. (Ja.ys, squirrels and children) . Do keep records - count your seeds and you will know just what success you are having with your cermination efforts. · An open cold frame, lined with heavy plastic and divided into compartments with plastic sheeting, and using 3- 4 inches of Jiffy-{\·iix as the planting medium, has been successfully used. Seeds are covered by damp peatmo ss. Drainage was furnished by heavy wire labels beine p·ushed through tho plastic sheet. The soil is changed every year in this case. In researching the AI S bul~etins since 1946 I managed to find 14 articles' on iris germination. Since thes~ bulletins are readily available to the majority of our members through their regional libraries, and as well as due to their length, I will merely note them her e with a few brief comments as to contents and recommend that those interested read the complete texts. #123: 111. Results from soaking seed in various chemical solutions, Doak, New Zealand.~· 11148:57. Results from the use of Giberellic acid as an ~id to gerraination 1=· : -- .· #160: 43. Plate culture of iris seed and the use of stimulents ._. ._. . . #162:55. Convential i tis seed germination, methods and environmental con4it _ions. #173: 34. A note on germination of I. douglasia:na . .: 11173: 65 . Experiments in sprouting iris seed under varyious. treatments. #179:27. Results from the use of iris seed extracts (inhibitprs) on crop seeds. #181: 14. Factors involved in iris seed germination and-·methods to imporve . ·' -· · #193 : 60. Germination data under controled conditions of 1 t"ime·, temperature ,. etc. $194:58. Simple· cett.ods. (leaching; seed coat removal etc.) to improve 2ermination. #206:33. Seed dormancy. '· 11213: 32. Experiments germinating Japanese iris seed; water &·light treatment etc. 41222: 36. Growing Dykes medal winners from seed. 1/233 : 52. Under Youth News: Good methods to use with a wide range of seed. The above articles largely refer to germinating bearded seed, and usually the tall bearded at that, so are directly applicable to a limited range of species, perhaps a dozen or so in all. They do, however, form a basis for further experiment ing with the "non-horticultural" species when combined with some knowledge of the · native habitats and the conditions under which they do germinate naturally. After all Dykes did manage to germinate, using largely natural conditions and likely little . knowl edge of the native habitats, certainly less than we now have available to us. Perhaps he got along better with too little knowledge rather than too much which so often seems to only add confusion to the subject. Letters received from widely different areas, both geographically artd climatic ally, indicate widely different results in obtaining germinat ion of the· same speci~s. Jean Wit't wrote 'that Californicae gave her "almost 100% germination" yet another grower of these iris wrcte: "I get very little germination from PCN"seeds un'til th~ second spring after planting them". (Lorena Reid in an International Robin Letter). Bruce Richardson mer,tioned that he planted several species of the PCN in his cool (50°) greenhouse in early winter and they came up like r;rass in the early spring. Probably this temperature was near that of their native habitats? Anyway he said he lost heavily · in transplanting and only I . dou.g"lasiana. lived over the first winter tp bloom twice, before passing on. The location was close to fair sized evergreens where the snow piled in drifts a few feet deep. Jean also wrote that I . missouriensis and some of the Asiatic spe::.;ies "may wait a year before coming up" but Bruce reported the exact opposite when l~e planted them in cans in an unheated plastic greenhouse when received in winter and they came .up fine in the late spring. The soil would freeze in there on tho coldest nights but thaw out again on sunny days. My own · experience with the I. missouriensis seeds I planted last winter was to get very good germination, while the 29 lots of Californicae seed planted gave absolutely no · germina!ic,n at all for me .. . ' ~ ' Anne-White wrote that this "should boa lonr. term project for both our Groups" . It isn't r eally ~he actual planting methods which are the most important in my opinior, . but there :is a need for information as to what may be expected (in the way of germination) from the various seeds after they are planted! A friend of mine in South Carolina, John W. Wood of Gaffney, writes that the PCN will not grow where he lives. He managed to germinate a few seeds but only one s eedling lived to bloom for him; then died the following winter. In looking over the pages from Dykes, THE GENUS IRIS, on growing iris from seed., it seems to me that our (published) knowledge has not greatly increased since he wrote the book. Of the many iris books I researched for germination ideas the . earliest printed was THE BOOK OF THE IRIS bylrwin Lynch (1904} and under cultivation of the various classes of species he said about the Californian Irises. and in . particular I . ha:rtwegi quoting Mr . John Hoog· "This, l ike the o·ther Californian Irises, may be easily raised from seed sown in the open in the autumn. The seedlings will appear next year about May, and by the end of° summer will have' grown into nice young plants .•• " He also added :that they cannot exist where there is much lime in'the · soil and although they will stand cold winters (in Holland) they are easily Killed by March and April fr:>sts. About I. "laevigata. and Japanese iris he merely sai·d trey_ are easy to grow from seed if the ··soil is acid. As for raisin·~ the. Oncocyclus iJ;ises from seed, all he says is that Mr. ·Hoog finds that raising from seed is slow but sure. The next earliest book to come to hand is one of Dykes' called IRISES, from the Present Day Gardening series of 11 volumes. Therein Dykes s tates that raising irises from- seed is far easier and more certain than is usually supposed. All that is necessary is to· sow the seed in pots early in the autumn and to plunge the pots out side ·in some cool position. Germination should ensu~ the following spring .. _;. Hybrid seed is much more apt to be irregular in germinating than the seeds from the self-fertilisation of a species.... ~ When ~e come to THE GENUS· ·iRIS by Dykes, we find two pages devoted to raising :·· irises from seed. The information is still valid ·and most useful for a beginner starting ~o grow seedlings,. and if the book had not been reprinted and so available to those inter,ested, I _would reprint most of these pages here c:s timely. Dykes lived in- ·surrey in the south of England, a mild cl imate with sandy soil and wrote of his experiences with .this soil and diinat;e. Among his comments on germination_he . mentioned that it is curious that those species, such as I . setosa and I . verswoZor 773. that always produce -an _abtmdance of seed, are precisely those species of which the seed germinates readiiy. · The reverse is true of the large bearded irises and the Oncocyclus, which produce few seeds, in that germination is slow and uncertain. Nq explanation for this be.~avior has been determined. He distingui shes between. the time of planting of bulbot·s and non-bulbous spedes. The former should b.e sown a·s soon a's the: cap!Stiles burst, but the non-bulbous shoul4 not be planted until late fall to avoid fall germination. Frost and alternate frost and thaw, far from being harmful to dormant c;eeds, seems to have a benefical effect .,. on the outer coats,. although they are disastrdus to minute seedlings . In his sandy soil he found that plung~ng .the pots to their rims and protecting with wire mesh to. keep birds from scratching out. the seeds worked best. The soil mix he recommended · was made up of leafmould and ·v·ery old manure mixed with his sand, about half and half. The seeds ar'-.? planted about ½ inch deep in a mixt_ure somewhat less rich than lower do ~m in the pot. Good drainage in the bottom of the pots is a must, and he sometimes used wire glluze rather than broken pieces of pottery. He notes that the seecls of the various species are very variable as to the time. of year they may be expected to germinate, but as a gen~ral rule the period of ger mination roughly coincides with the reappearance of active growth in the mature · plants. Seeds of the bulbous irises genninate well in, prepared beds of rich l ight soil in the open, but the seeds must be t hinly sown so. the plants can be l eft in· place until they have bloomed. Otherwise the bulbs would have to be lifted and with their small size they are hard to locate. I have only. covered the highlights here and I strongly urge any serious- species seed grower ·to try and read the complete two pages. ·· You will be well rewarded. · The last book Mr. Dykes wrote was A HANDBOOK OF GARDEN .iRISES, published in 1924, and· aimed at the general public rather than the spefi.alist. In it he devoted. only one paragraph to seed growing, with the same comments .repe.ated as above. In 1930 Dykes' writings to various journals were assembled together in DYKES ON IRISES by George Dilliston_e. One article from "The Gar~en" is ON RAISING IRISES FROM SEEDS, publ ished Nov •. 22nd, 1~24 • . About as long as the .~ne in :nm GENUS IRIS and his suggestions had changed lit;tle if any'. He did ·ment ion th~t.> 1very little that is accurate seems to be known as to the conditions under wl2ich seeds germinate most readily", a statement still largely true today (c!t l east for most of us). Embryo r cul ture was an unknown art then. A ti1ought worth noting is that the soil' mix select ed should match t he acidity of the native habitat soil, a fact generally well known today. Al so seeds should never be in pots under gl ass frames as they will likely rot and do less well than in the open. Place under glass or in a greenhouse as soon as the f irst green tips show t o ensure ·faster growth and l arger plants to line out. he favored lots of snow cover and said he often rolled snowballs on top of his seed7 ling pots to cover them 4-5 feet deep. This article too is well worth a rereading, . but if you obtai n the one in THE GENUS IRIS you will not have rniss·ed ver y much. The earliest American book to come to hand was IRISES by P.F. Rockwell, published in 1928 and one of the HOME GARDEN HANDBOOKS. It has a: page 01'. so on gr owing irises from seed but tells one little beyond that they are best pl ant:ed as soon as ripe, and· .. . , that they require the action of frost and moisture to prep~re them .for germination. It does suggest using a light sand soil rich in humus - he must have read Dykes! In 1931 RAINBOW FRAGMENTS by J . Marion Shull was published and again r ecommends si:wing in the open apout October, late enough to prevent fall gennination, ancl protecting with a wire mesh cover from birds and cats.. In sev:ere climat es a light .. covering of pine or spruce boughs will prevent heaving of the seed iri ··e:ar~y · spi:ing . . · :~·-: 774. In 1949 ( revised in 1960) Sidney B. Mitchell published his IRIS FOR EVERY GARDEN and has a few pages on sowinr; iris seed and germination. However his inform ation is mostly just cotunon methods that any good gardener would automatically use in any case. No real secrets, but did mention leaching as an aid and keeping the seed flats or plots moist - just as many others have found to be beneficial. His r efer ences are entirel y to plantine hybr id seed from bearded iris and directed to hybridizers. GARDEN IRISES by Dr . L.F. Randolph (1958) discusses the delay in seed gennination, and environmental factors in part r espons~9~e. He mentions planting Louisiana seed while still green and not fully ripened ·for improved germination, an idea that has come in from other and l ater sources.· Leachine of course is mentioned but also soaking in various chemical solutions, none of which worke9, although thiourea i I]. a dilute solution for two days had worked °for B.W. Doak of New Zealand. He sums up his findings by .:; tat-inr, : "Tt1ere are apparently unknown f actors influencing s~ed eermination in iris that remain to be discovered. In the meantime the only known method of obtaining prompt f{ ermination is the excised er.1bryo culture t echnique . 11 The first part of this statement echoes Dykes! Dr. Randolph then went on to describe culture· medium, its u·se and the art of embryo culture; a job calling for a f air amoti.'1t of special equipment and speciali_zed knowledge and a lot of skil~ and patience. · The last book to be reviewed here ana the one with the best information and most suggestions was published in 1961 amd is IRIS CULTURE and HYBRIDIZING FOR EVERYONE by Wilma L. Vallette. TI1ere are some 15 pages on planting seeds and a couple more on improving eermination. Most of the ideas and sugges:tions that have come to hand in researching this article are to be found as well in this book, and a few as well that were not mentioned eisewhere: The book apparently i s difficult to find in libraries (not even in the AIS l i brary collection) and.. thus merits more r eview here, and I oniy w~sh space would permit its c~mplete reprint ._ Planting time is given as being as soon as ripe, ·or even a bit green, for warmer climates where winter weather i s not a killing factor. For colder climates it is best to wait until September ot October so g~rmination won't take place until spring. If planted early in the north then winter protection for t}_l_e tiny s,eedling.s is essential. Seed will remain viable for several years and as time goes on xpe dormancy factor will decrease. Store at ,:- ·om t emperature for up 'to · 12 years. The dormancy factor i s not in the seed coat nor the embryo , but in the endosperm. In planti ng fresh seed the ground must never be l et dry out, 'not even orice. Keep mosit but not wet. One r eport was using gallon cans fi}le~ with soil to within 3" of the top, then 1½" of damp peatmoss, then the see:l and topped off with another inch of peatmoss. Cans were left out until cold. weather, then put in cold frames where they got so~e frost and germination was 90% Once the seud coat hardens, it takes time, moisture, freezing and winter cold to break dormancy and rouse the· seed. When planted NEVER LET THEM DRY OUT but not wet either. Dryine out will either result in killing the germ~natine seed or cause i t to again go dormant· for another year through the r edevelopment of a er.owt.1:1 i nhi~iting .. factor . . Wh en aril seed matures it goes into a deep donnancy, so is bes:t plan'fea while . still P,reen and soft - · and then grown inside under glass for the winter. · While this works wi th Oncocyclus it is claimed by some that Regelias need_S~J:C to eight weeks of freezing; in any case the freezing does no harw and may help'. · · 775. An interesting method of cettine bullet-hard I. ar>ena:ria seed to -germinate in two weeks is described as placine in boiling water for five minutes, then in cold water and freeze overnight, thaw the next morning, then refreeze. Next day place them on _t_h;I:ee thickness of soaking wet blotting paper in a covered dish and keep i~ a dark corner. of a wa:if,1 room until germination takes place. If these small seeds · can stand this violent treatment perhaps larger arils can too. Worth a try! Some claim that nicking the end of the seed before planting helps speed ger mination and other find it no aici. The idea behind it is that opening the end of the seed will allow water to penetrate and in some cases leaching to take place more readily. In case it is easier to nick them after .soaking to soften the seed anr 1 coat. Adding .·02% Natphylacetamide ::md . 01% Vitamin B to the soaking water is said to improve germination considGrably. For regular refrigeyated stratification of seed, sterilize it for .an hour by soaking in equal- parts of boiled water and chlorox. Rinse, then soak for two days in boiled water, changing it the second day; the seed may be frozen first, if desired. Plant the seeds in cl ear plastic containers, quite small in size so the roots can b<;J seen when germination occurs, using a small amount of damp peatmoss. Keep in the vegetable crisper at 40° . and near l009o germination will take place in a few weeks. Planting seeds in milled sphagnum moss is highly recommended as a planting medium alone. It is light, holds mositure well and as ·well there seems to be some thing in it that .1ids germination. After planting in this medium keep the container in a warm, dark room until sprouts appear. It is easy to avoid ov_er-watering as it soaks it up readily and some water soluable plant food added to every second water ing helps. A little sand. may.. _be .µ5;ed on top to give some weight. :to. .the moss. Suggestions for outdoor planting are to use light soi_l, well .enriched with humus . If the soil is heavy a good way is to run a small V trench and fill with sand for planting the seeds; covering ½-:.;t. rr deep. Beds should be l evel to avoid soil wash from rains and wind moving of light soil. Planting thickly in the .ro , seems to increase the germination percentage, .perhaps because there is some _heat given off in · · the germination process and one seed heats another.· Planting wide ~pait to avoid · ! having to transplant is not too good an idea as it ties up a large_ amount of land · for years and they are always :~ither too thin or too thick depending on the nwnber that genninate and the vigor of the seedlings. Far better to sow thickly and trans~ plant when 1-3" high. Planting in sand makes =it easy to separate them. Planting depth is ifuportant, with one half to three quarters of an inch suffic ient in heavy and medium soils and about an inch in sandy soils to somewhat more in very light open soil. Too deep planting slows germination and they don't do so well as seedlings either. Always wise to -cover the seedling beds with wire mesh to keep off birds, bird~, - cats, chickens etc. Planting in frames is a good way to control moisture, but ventilation is critical and the glass must be l eft open a .bit · most of the time, to avoid high h midy and moulds or moss. Heated frames do not .· increase the germination percentage but do get the seedling started sooner. Flats as containers are very convenient-when planting in frames. Bugs and cutworms can .be a _. problem in flats and can be ~ontroll_ed _wit.h malathion and pois-oned ·bran., ...... ~ Some methods of improv·iti'g. germi-~~tio~ a~e noted, using v~ri~us soaking solutioris, some seemingly severe like an hour in concentrated sulphuric acid~ and near 100% germination, but lower rates with longer and shorter soakine periods. In this case the seed was also kept in a -~eepfreeze for two weeks before planting. Less violent treatment was with chloride.;o,f. lime, one pound in two quarts of water, soaked over.:. night and then the hypocotyl. '(where the sprout emerges) removed with a ::5harp:J Several methods invol ved the soaking and cold storage treatment for up to three months, using quick dips in boil ing water, lye-water and dusting with Arasan to prevent mould in sto:rage. Dr. Doak's method was to use equal parts of Potasium Nitrate (KN0 3 Saltpetre and Thiourea (NH2DCS2NH 2) (strength of the solution not given). soak for two days and plant ½" deep. A variation -was to soak in pl ain water for two days prior to the solution soaking. About 85% germinat~on reported. -: Soaking in Saltpetre solution or dilute hydrogen-peroxide helps increase the percentage of first year germination, but Thiourea adds earlier g'erinination, so the. two should be. used together for best results. · Bal is ~aid to work even faster than the above and no risk of fungus, but the.. seed must be decapped and a 190 solution used for 24 hours.. Al so "'.'ery expensive and hard to obtain. Gibberellic acid, the growth hormone, used in a solution of 20 mgm to one gallon of water, wi~h a pound of Foliun (a nutrient) added and soaked for 48 hours showed promise in increasing germinati on in di fficult crosses and gave stronger seedlings. Chlorox 50-50 solution is useful too. Soak for up to three hours. 75% ge:i:-m.in-· ation against 10% for untreated. A 25% solution is also of help if the seeds ar e soaked for 24-48 hours. 100% germination reported in two weeks. From here on several pages are devoted to the ~rience of embryo culture and will not be covered here as it is very specialized and needs expert help and training to make use· of the technique. The above suggestions for improved germination are very basic· and our members should consult this book if at all possible for greater detail A copy of the REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON IRIS, held at Orleans , France, May 24/29, 1978 was sent to me by Dr. Boussard and one of the addresses was by Mr. J.D.': Taylor of England, on PRACTICAL BREEDING OF BEARDED IRISES . . One part of hi~ addressdealt.with sowing seed and he gave his methods. He sows as soon as ripe and before the seed dries out in the open and about½" deep. -He uses pots of sterilized compost and a little river sand on top, plunging the pots to t~eir rim~ outside. He doesn't use embryo culture. as he has plenty of seedlingsanyway ·.-.nd ' f e_els natural germ~n~t~on is the first test of a cross I worth. · · ·. ' ED: Several, of ~ur members were kind enough to send in eith~ri 7,,engtny Zetters or a:rticZes d~scribing their germination methods. We are pleased to :t>eprf-nt them 1iere and' as .weU di-aw your attention to t he one. by· Bob R~e of Australia that W::is printed in SIGNA 23. Dr . R. H. Egli, La Tour ae Peilz, Switzerland. The method I use for accelerating the germination of iris seeds is ~he result of reading the literature about ·germination in general and experimenting with ,the many recommendations given i_n articl es on the iris. This method can be rec~munend-ed · . , .....-~ . . especially for iris seeds r eceived in a ·· small number during the fir.s-t · two lil9n ths -~-f the year, and can be used i ~ cold-houses and f r ames. · The seeds are stored dry _iri open plastic cups in a. ~~ld ro~m at 0-10°C' ~ntii. the end of February. Then they are soaked iri water at room temperature (max. 20°~) for :,. . abo.ij,t tlCD weeks. The water j,s .ep~d t'very .second day with the effect that the. · ·., . " • -.. , ., .. . ' , . ·.:. , /' ··, ' ' ...... :.~ ' .. .. ,. . .. ' . ·, I . ,.: . ., 777 • ' . t•., · ~ : ·., · · :7 •, , :· organic-acids :{1-p~ . liberat ed polyphenols (substances preventing premature germination) are washed· out·._of · the' seed ~pat _: ,· The se0ds of all water irises (laevigatae, hexa gonae) 'and ·setos.a,. with a l1~rd a't1d brittle outer coat, are first rolled or pressed in one hand witli 'the thumb -or. three fingers of· the other hand to separate the small seed grains and these are then soaked as descr'ibed. The seeds are now swollen and ha+f o~ the sq:ft :remaining seed coat is rubbed off with the finger-nail at the po.inted· end. '!:ve'fy:. itiS·· S¥~. ,grain is more or l ess pointed at the end opposite the hilum· and ther~ w~11 · be·. seen_a black .point. This is the small cover of the micro pyle where the polhin .tube.)1a?. jtiinedrthe ovule and where the seed produces the plumµle of the seedling (see Species -Iris Manual , Appendix III, Plate IV, fig. E). This black point. is now scrapped ·off.. with ·a: razor blade and the thus treated seed is set about ·1. ~m· ~eep·' in the_. medium for germinating in ¥1- seed tray • . The. see.d: tray· .i:s .·suffic'iently watered :and pl aced in a thin plastic bag to keep the humidity.constant and .stored in .a ~oid-hotise or shaded frame. The ideal temp erature is 1S-18°C and th~ -temperatur!3 shouid not -v,ary ·more than s0 c, plus or minus, within 24 hours. Should this· b'e likely to oc·cur, the .tray must be placed in the ground for.better temperature regulation. In -optima~ cas es, germinating seeds are Sf:!en after ten days :and w1.c!,er the worst conditions, after ten weeks. If only well developed seeds hav'e been ~s~d ·~fft~r. soaking, nearly all wi:11:.germinate. Personally I have founci the easiest seeds to gel"Il)1~ate to·be I . kaempferi (ensata) and I. setosa. Pseudoregalia· (i.e. I. kamaoenensis) does not ·germinate befor~ June and Californicae befon.: May:, .. · · · · ; · i :. ,_:,. ,. ' . , ••. r ... , l~l1en tJw.. :tbird ieaf ~s · about 1 cm .long·; the .~eed~ings can be transplanted into small pots whfch are put :i.ij the ground in a co:l·d:--hous·e : or shaded frame, kept huraid with a weak liquid fertilizer and protectecf: again.st _dra'.ftsufor sqme weeks. Some irises such as I. missouri,ensis, especi,aily ·the~·varieties ZongipetaZa and the Junos rosenl>a.chiana and nicolai, stiffer from drafts :and.rot rapidly at the soil surface. These species should not be disturbed ·before early autumn, when the second and thicker roots are formed. *** . ;_. . : .. ·J:.ir. Samuel F. Sipe, Curragh, Ireland ('Winter : Naples, Florida) . q ·. The Irish climate i s a constant ·hattle .. b,:etween the moderating influence of the Gulf ·stream, the harsh arctic winds because of its far northern location, and the constant weather fronts from the Atlantic Ocean. There are few days with no pre cipitation, except in mid-summer when there are.ordinarily two dry spells of about ten days each. The summer days are very l from about 3: 30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. The winter days are correspondingly short, from 8:30 a .m. to 4:30 p.m. The temper ature is seldom over 70° and except for the lastfew severe winters, there is no deep or lasting frost. However, frosts do occur until mid-May and start again in Sept ember.These mostly are not killing frosts f or the roses bloom through December. At Kinneagh there is always some wind and there is no predominent direction. ··-:Usually in early January there are one or two stonns when the wind speed reaches 70 miles per hour for about half an hour. Such are my climatic conditi ons I The seeds of all species iris and TB's are treated pretty much the same. They go in the refrigerator for at l east a week and are then s)aked in a solution of Captan at room temperature for another week. This solution is fairly thick so that it leaves a coating on the seed which seems to make them l ess appetizing to the mice and any creature in the soil as well as preventing the seeds from rotting. The planting compost is 2/3 peatmoss and 1/3 sand. Most seeds regardless of size are planted½ inch deep in plastic pots. The surface is covered with a fine , 778. thin layer 0£ fine gravel or _grit to discourge the growth of moss. The container is then soaked with a wea~ solution of Captan to prevent dampi~g off. The advice I have received almost universally is: "Once the seeds are sown never let them dry out!". I am inclined to agree with this as several times (part icularly with Spurias) I have found containers where seeds haq sprouted below the surface and then died from lack of moisture. With this in mind the containers are handled in three ways: · !'Jl1en there is sufficient room and when the species ordinarily grow in warm climates, they are put i n a heated glass house. The containers are placed in plastic lined flats containing about½ inch of water. This method is the fastest but results in a tender piant that my.st be hardened off;very car~fully. Another method used is an unheated plastic house with the containers placed on capillary beds. 'fl:l.ese are simply wooden frames ·~·ined with plastic and filled with · sand. ·The water l evel is kept constant by an inexpensive ballcock. (ED: float controled valve). TI1e. principle problem with the plastic house is the inadequate control of the temperature. Even in mid-winter on sunny days it often goes over 90° and in the·-1~w thirties at night. Both of the previous methods have the disadvantage of keeping the compost constantly too wet, .so that. insufficient air gets to the seeds and moss grows on the peat. . , · · The easiest method ' is the use of a :cold frcirli-e, 'sinking the containers· in peat- moss about two inches ap~rt. By watering only ·the, peat the seeds can be kept moist without disturbing the soil in the containers. The glass is raise~ a crack during the day and closed at night when it retains the heat much better than the plastic. When the plants have started growing the glass is removed for longer periods each day and finally left off.It is well to cover the frame each night until all danger of frost is over. · Of course _t~~ p~at~ss provides a nice warm home for slugs et~, Therefore::slug . ::, ... • bait must be' use'd''regul~rly. .., .. • I As s-oon as the seeds are sprouted they receive a weak solution of liquid fert.: Hizer twice a· week'. It i~ important to get as much growth from this point on so they can be planted out' early and be l arge enough by fall with ~oots below the frost line to withstand the winter .weather. When they are large enough to handle they are immediately planted either in peat pots or in a well-prepared bed. It is important from now on that they receive enough mositure and fertilizer. Until the ground warins (about June in Ireland) the plants are covered by low plastic tunnels. These are made by using heavy wire hoops about two to two and a half feet high in the center. · ' ' The container is soaked with liquid fertiliier ·a d~y or so before planting out. When they are moved the foliage is dipped ±n a s:i.licone solution which in most cases pr.events wilting and results in a ·higher percentage ·of surviving plants. Most species seem to need constant feeding and ·earl d_uring the . first year until they are well established. After that they are· inostly t1:ouble free. 779. Spuria tend to ·sprout late in the year in which case they are best held over the winter before planting out. This is also true of any plants that have made insuffici ent growth. Louisianas if .soaked a little longer in lukewarm water seed to genninate better. . . . If micro-climates more similar to those in which the species are found naturally c.ll'e established, the results are far more satisfactory. This is done by providing protection against cold winds, changing the pH of the soil and controlling the moisture and drainage etc. Whil e the above methods will not be successful everywhere, they have proved out in Ireland where there is a saying: 11 !£ you don't like the weather right now, wait an hour and you will get what you want. *** ED: Kil,dai.•e and Curragh are two smaU towns about three mil-es apart and just over 25 mi"les STi of Puhl-in. '}hey are in.land about 30 mites west of the coastline of the Irish Sea and .St. George's Channel. Kildare is also the county name. Dr. i:-iaurice Eoussard, Verdun, France. In a general way iris seeds are not difficult to genninate, alt~ough there are notorious exceptions (the "Arils" for example) . I am sowing in autumn (Sept-Oct.) in a neutral, well drained compost kept slightly moist. The seed spend the winter under a frame in the garden and usually germinate the following spring (Feb.-Mar. ) I noticed however, seed of previous season (1 year old) often genninates more readily than those of the current season. There are not very many native iris in this country and they are all easy to genninate and grow. They are as follows: Two bulbous of the· Xiphium section; I. xiphiwn and I. xiphioides, tbis latter from meadows in the Pyrenees Mountains, and to my taste, the most beautiful of all our natives. All the other natives are rhizomatous as below: POGONIRIS: I. chamaeiris (various forms), I . gennaniaa; I. paUida" - albiaans and fZorentina are subspontaneous, the former having been brought back fro~· the middle east by the Crusaders. ···· .:.,. APOGON: Spuriae: ··.I.,. .g,r.~ninea · (finely ·plum scenteq) and I. spuria. Foetidissima: I. foetidissima Laevigatae: I. pseuci.a.ooPuB ... Sibiricae: I . sibiriaa Unguicularis: I. unguicuZaris (stylosa), subspontaneous here and there in Southern France. The allied genera HERMODACTYLUS -tuberosus and GYNANDRIRIS sisyrinchiwn are also found. Although I'm saying again - 1.r1.s seeds germinate without problems, I shall pass in review all the sections of the genus, only commenting on those types that have part icular needs, according to my experience . ' BULBOUS: (Jun9 Reticulata and Xiphium sections) are no problem if sown as mentioned above. One sI:ould, however, sow I. wino,gradou>ii (Reticulata) and xiphioides in a rather acid compost, kept not too dry, even in summer. All the other species ..· :.::·: 780. need a dry and hot gx;;:..i:pd in summer. .Juno seedl ing.s ·11av.,e t.9. -~ transplanted to their permanent spot in the garden as yearlings, bef ore the fleshy and very brittle perennial roots 'appea-r. It must be r emembered that all bulbous irises take some years (4-5) to reach flowering size from seed. RHIZOMATOUS: Pogoniris: no probl em. 11 11 • Arils (C11cocyclus, Ps eudoregelia and Regelia) : The exception in the genus, being of slow and fitful germination (2 to 5 years!), due to an inhibitor , l ying in the endodenn (Oncocyclus, which germinate within 4-6 weeks i f the embryo is excised from the seed and .then ~rown on a sterile medium) or even in the embryo : itself (Regelia, which do not r espond· to embryo culture). I only noticed that seed spread naturally around the mother-plants germinates more readily. Seed of Oncos and Regel ias have to be sown in autumn (spring-growing but auttUnn resting) whereas Pseudoregelias may be sown in early spring (summer-growing). Evansias: no problem for I. miZesii and I. teatorwn. Acid soil for Ii. aristata, graaiZipes, Zaaustris~ speauZatrix tenuis. (And some shade). Species of the Japonica group (aonfusa, formosana, jazx>nwa and wttii) do not set seed. · Apogon: no ·problem; only I. verna, Sinicae (minutaurea and rossii), the Californicae . (PCN), Ii. prismatica, kaempferi and Zaevigata have to be grown in an acid soil, waterlogged far the three latter species." I usually move my seedlings -when they have 3-4 l eaves (May-June) ; except for the summer-resting species. (the bulbous and arils Oncos and Regelias) which are kept in their pots throughout the summer (when at rest) and only moved in autumn when growth is. ·again starting. I have to say, however, albeit iris germination never gives me major problems, seedlings of: ·some species often wither and die away after some months; I guess this may come ·from the sudden heat spells that occur in the spring and young seedlings may not withstand the hard draft of hot air· at such times. Only tiny species of humid biotypes (as I. gra.ciUpes, rossii, verna •• . ) are so affected. Before closing, may I say· that my feeling is that the main problem in 1r1s cultivation i s not its seed germination, but a proper transplanting and care of seedling method, chiefly for those species of t he very specialized "niches". *** I•iro Samuel N. Norris, Owensboro, Kentuckeyo . FORCED GERMINATION: Some y.ears ago I was fortunat e enough to work out a method for germinating the aril iris seed, both the oncocyclus and the regelias. The results of.these first tests are in the ·1975 ASI Yearbook. Since that time I have used the same method with all t he other species iris seed that I have germinated and only two species have given less than satisfactory results from this method. Seed from I. l There are thTee main ster,s required for the gernunation of the seed. The first step is a warm stratificat.ion of the seec1 for some five to six weeks after they have been fully imbibed. (ED: 'satu:P.ated) . The second step consists of cutting from .00~ to .008 inches from the tip of, the embryo. The third steg is a cold stratification of from three to four. ·weeks· at a . temperature around 43-45 F. Any temperature lower than this will· lengthen tye time rt:quired for the cold treatment . .. .. , . Step one can be accompl ishcd in a number of yrays. The seed can be planted and then the ones that do not germinate can be exhumed for the treatment. An alternate method is to sterilize the seed for 15 minutes or so in Puxex, then soak them long enough, usually two or three da)'s, to soften the seed coat. The seed coat can then be removed and the seed' can. be given the warm stratification in moist vermiculite. An amount of water equal in weight to t;he vermiculite used works nicely. Room temperature works very well for ·the warm stratification. The seed can be kept in a plastic bag to prevent the vermiculite and the seed ·from-drying out. Another method would be to treat the seed as above but ·to remove the seed coat after the warm stratification. When this method is used, it is a good idea to allow. a few extra days to .insure that the seeds have a full five weeks of warm stratifi cation after the seed becomes fully imbibed. A test made with aril seed indicated they had taken up their maximum amount of water after three days in moist vermicu lite, but seed having a hard or oily seed coat might require more time. The seeds tho. t have been planted and then exhaumed, and the seeds that were given the warm stratification prior to r ~moving the seed coat, should be given another 15 minutes in Purex. The seed coat can then be removed after the Purex has been washed from. the seed. Cutting the tip off the ~~d~sperm and embryo can best oe· performed under a mag- ·· nifying glass. A scalp~l or _single edge razor blade can be used for this. ·Some of: the seed will have·endosperm that:'°:i:s so distorted that the embryo will be hard to find. Enough shoul d be cut from the end of the embryo to allow the full diameter of the embryo to be vis.ible, but care must be. exerci:sed not to: cut off too much· or ,the . growing point of the em_bryo ~ill be lost . . A cut of the same .:thickness as the paper· .·:: this is printed on will :~·e just right. : (ED.: paper runs . 003-. 004" thick). . .. . • • ' •1 • : • The next step is to put the seeds back. in moist vermiculite and place them -in, ,. 1 the refrigerator. Fresh vermicul ite and clean plastic bags should be used to help: . :. .; avoid contamin~tion. They can then be held in the refrigerator for three or four · 'I weeks , probably in the wannest spot ih the refrigerator. A thermometer should- be· i. .: used to help locate the proper temperature for the cold treatment. It may be-·ne·c - .. · . essary to put the seeds·0 in the lowest part of the refrigerator with layers of paper above the seeds ·to 'insulate them from the colder parts of the refrigerator. When the s·eeds are removed from the refrigerator they should be left in· the ·. pl astic bags until after they germinate; usually the seeds will germinate within· a ··· week after being removed from the refrigerator. If for some reason the seeds are , showing no signs of germinating after one week they can be put back in the refrig: ' ' erator for another period of cold stratification. . . ::·! The seeds that have germinated, and in- most cases the majority of them will have, should be planted with about hal f of the l eaf sheath above the soil. If the seed is in the proper position to allow it, it should also be covered.· Tf it ·ish·1 t positioned properly it is best not to try to· force it into position. If the see·a is broken off at this time th"e seedling has no chance of living., but an. intact seedling will continue to obtain nurishment from the seed even when the seed is· not in · .: contact with soil. 782 • . Here-,are spme of the things to l .ook for when preparing the seed for treatment or when-they have ..faiH,d to germinate. D-iscolouration of the embryo or endo~perm. Softening of. the end~sperm. Embry<:> watery or soft. Embryo elongating but not germinating - ··t66_. mi:ich cut from_the ei:id_ of the embryo. Temperature either too high or too low in the ref~igerator. Seed allowed to become too hot prior to treatment, or allowed to freeze · after the seed has become fully imbibed. Too many seeds for the amount of vermiculite used can have an adverse effect on germination if the seeds contain an inhibitor. Al though i: ·havEf _ge'rnlina.ted ·.sey~ral th~usand seeds by this method and have found it more. dependable than ·germination from just planting the seeds, there are still ~. occasional problems·.. On ~· l?ig advantagt:l is that the seeds germinate when you want them to, rather than ha~ihg to wait for time and. the season to initiate the gennination process. This method of germin Frank C4qwin~, Little Rockv Arkansas. I suspect the Louisiana iris seed which you have been trying to gerninate have come to you from "out of state" in a very dry condition. Once these seeds have been allowed to become very dry they are very difficult to germinate - I have known them to lie in their seed container for 4-5 years before they would begin to germinate; in fact, not until the corky covering has rot~ed away, L9uisiana iris seed should be gathered by .p\.llling the whole seed pod loose from the stai'k' while the pod , is still partially green and the seed should not be remove For reasons that no one ·understands, some Louisiana hybrids produce seed that germinates real well (within 60 days after they are planted) while the seed. of.. other hybrids won't germinate a single seed until the second fall aft:-er they are planted. ·· Be careful to plant in a very friable soil consis:ting of a mixture_. of l eaf mould; a=,. little sha.rp sand, and some peat' moss so that· ft will never.', pac.k hard to form a crust. When the seedlings have three l eaves and are five or more inc.hes taU, they a-re ready to transplant; however, if they reach this stage in the fall it is better to hold ip the seed pot~ until early spring than to plant them in i~t~ _fall~ be~ause. the¥, ,wil l then be heaved out . by_ frost and may be los~ ; · •.- ·., '..:;, .' . : ,· . If one has a gr·~enhouse without heat·' or a cold frame, :th~n · .th:~; ::~a:'ii_.b~ .~r&:ns-:-·. lated to six inch pots (after they make three 1-e-avi:?~). ·and )y ·spring. they :wil:l be .. large plants thai C~ij be trausp~ed 'to tluf opeh g°:t9Ulld' 'as soon as freezing· weatlrer passes and a high p~tage will bloom that· sprihg. · *** · 783 JEAN WITT, SEAT'l1LE, WASHING'lON Late in October or ·No.vell)ber is the preferred planting time here; we don't want seedlings to come ·up in--the fall and get winter killed. I plant in /12 and #2½ tin cans, usually one lot to a •can, but sometimes if there ·is only one seed (as in many bee-seed (MTB) lots) · I divide tl}e can with slips of pl'astic. I punch a number in the bottom with a nail (for identification) and this also acts as drain holes. Usually I put a tag with the .number too, slipping it down the side of the can when the seed is in. We have very lean gravelly soil, so I use 'about half compost and half garden soil, with a little all-purpose fertilizer. Frankly, I don't think that the type of mix is terribly important, as long fiS it isn't sticky clay that can bake. I fill the cans, pebble layer in the bottom, to about half an inch of the top, plant the seeds and cover ; dirt usually .settles enough so the top of the½" dirt cover is a little below the top of the can. All the cans are then grouped together, outside, to l et nature take its course. I used to keep them in wooden fruit lugs, but we can't get these anymore, so this y0ar I just ~ug a shallow hole out in the iris rows, set the cans in close together, banked them arourid the edge, and shoved dirt down the cracks between them, then mulched with pine needles. The main thing is to keep the cans from tipping over, or forming too much ice around and in between; . the mul.ch is partly for a little protection and partly to discourge cats from digging thing's up. Ordinarily I have all the seedlings I can possibly plant. Nature would not pamper the seeds in the wild, therefore neither ·need we. Seed in a dry state _<;:an stand freezing, and some of those from colder climates may actually need tt. When I receive seeds in the early spring; then I do a bit differently. ·qne of the things that has been recommended i s soaking for ten days, changing .the water every day. I do it in custard cups, but you could use a nylon stocking'bag, _tying· off between the seed lots. 'l1wy can then be plantod out, if no more freezing .is ·expt:cted. They can also be put in the refrigerator between damp towels in some ~l~p 0£ ·c9ntainer to prevent drying out and germination is said to occur quickly. It i-?. also,,s.aid' thf!t ice melt water or cooled boiled water works better than tap water, _appar:petly'because the normally present gases have been eliminated. Notching the seed c9a:1:··w~th ··'a fil~ may help with the arils, which, so I've heard, are geared to germinat~. o1}1y ,then : rains have penetrated the soil 6" down, so seedlings will have enough mo\sture ·to get off to a good start. ·· ' As for transplanting, if the seedlings arc crowded in the can, and some kinds will come up like hair on a dog, then I tap the whole lot out and pry them carefully • J apart. An old table fork is a useful tool. I plant them in double rows (staggered) about 6-8" apart, with wider aisles between. The most important thing is to keep · the roots from drying out while handling. I water with Hyponex about twice a week, for perhaps the first month, so that they get off to a good start. Full sun is usually taken for granted, but the Californicae, for instance, may do better in slight shade if your sun is intense. Species in general are not difficult to germinate. Some l ike the Californica~ and the Sibiricae come up nearly 100%. Others, like I. missov.:riensis and some of the Asiatic things from dry climates, may wait a year before coming up. I hold all cans over a second winter if only a few seedlings show the first year. Then, if it is something choice, I dig around to see if there are any firm seeds with white interiors still present, or just dead husks, as usually I can find evidence of one or the other. ·r should mention too, that with the bulbous species one does not transplant. Wait until the first year's growth has died down, and then hunt out the rice-grain size ·bulblets; or better yet, wait until the second year's growth has died down, when they should be about cherry-pit size. *** 71l4. BEE WARBURTON, WESTBORO, :r-iASSACHUSETTS Species s~eds range a°ll the ·way from I. tectorum, which germinate like radishes, to I. arenarsia, etc., which is extremel°y difficult to germinate . Walter Welch worked out a method· 0£ gei,ninating the ~ard little pellets of the latter: Cover then with half a cup of boiling water an(! let cool; altermately freeze and thaw them in! the water, l eavilig fr(?zen .. for a day at a time, for three times. This works. ' La~t year_ I yt_~ed it on la~e arrivals of- old I. ve1"sic0Zor seeds - several years old. It \·mrked to a ·certain extent, so that at least I had some to line out with the overwintered ones, and to know , that it wquldn't kill the seeds, at any rate. Dr. McF.wan _believes that freezing ·:them will kill them, out I haven't found it so. Since my usual method is "·o leave them to the (doubious) benefits of winter in New England in an open cold f ~:ame, it could hardly be so, but perhaps to freeze them . dry is more destructive~· The open col1frame method last year sprouted so many versicoZor and Siberian seeds that I nearly went mad trying to get them all lined out. From some crosses I have up to 300 seedlings. Among the easy germinators are I. missouriensis and bi~lwnis (ensqta). As for a medium in the coldframe, and the problem of using the same coldframe year after year, I am using Jiffy-Mix at present, and it gives me the best germin ation I've ever had. I've tried everything, peat and sand, vermiculite, plain soil, and in cans or flats, but at present I 'm having such good luck with the coldframe method that I won't experiment any further. I remove all of last year's medium with any remaining seeds .•. and this is a catch, as many people prefer to wait for further germination; however, I've given up on that, it takes a lot of bookwork and beside~, l etting the seeds have only one year to sprout does select for germinabliity. I then spread down a sheet of black plastic, and then spread 3-4 inches of Jiffy-Mix (or other trade equivalent). I have some strips of heavy plastic. which I use for fences between the rows and between the batches. I just strew the seed lot into a compartment, sp,:cad them enough to separate theia a little and cover with a ½" of the peat, moistened first. For drainage in the frame, I have labels with stiff wires and push them down through the black plastic. When the seedlings are ready to be lined out the whole thing is taken out as a block and soaked in Rapidgro or some solution loosen it up and separate, if germination is heavy. If anyone wanted to keep it over, the blocks could be easily taken out and placed in flats. In New England, the time for planting seeds is October. The night before I plant I put each batch into an orange-juice can; paper cups aren't strong enough for the 50/50 Cloroa solution I soak them in before planting. This takes care of the ~ mold,:. etc. , and if they bleach white it doesn't hurt them any. I soak for seve1·al · hours but overnight would require a somewhat milder Clorex solution. Then I just whish Clorex and all into the blocks of peatmix in the frame. Takes me very little time to sow a few thousand seeds. Seedlings are planted on ridges and part of the iris patch ·,is fallowed iw.i th . cover crops to renew its fe:rti,lity!- If I use weedkillers, I -don~ t apply them until . : after the third hand weeding. ·: _Se,~dlings are planted in two_.or double rows with the .-:, plants 6-8" apart depending on .1rhe ultimate expected size of the plants after their · seedling year. My seeds germin,atp prec_i;~~iY, at_:the _ time that; I . pumiZa, ·starts. to ~loom .. (Last week in Ap:ril· and·. the firs·t ··week in ·May) . . As for ·,the ·water lev.el rn the seed beds, it is abs'olutely iluperative to keep the seeds moist, but I have found that after each drying out in the summer, a good soaking will produce a few more sprouts, so I don't really believc: that drying out kills them, unless of course, they have started to sprout. *** 785. Factors I nflucnc:ing the (;erminatio11 of Iris ~ccd and the lh>lation of Inhibiting Substances to Emhryo 1)ormn ll<',\' 1 Hy I .. F. l~.\:--1>01.1·11 and l.1-:1. ,,r--:1> (;,Cox.Cornell l'11iursil_\', /JI/(/((/, .v. l'. l 11·: cll'iay(·cl g-t'l'llli11ati11n 11f iri:-: :-:n ·d i:-: a pnil,k111 11£ major impor Tlann· 111 iris hn·nl<·rs a11cl otlwrs i11l<"ITSl\'cl i11 grn\\'ing iris fr11111 !-olT .\l11n· :-1·1·dli11g:,- 11nli11:irih· \\Tl'(' olitai11C"d tlw lir:,;t \Tar than thl' s\'rnnd, alth1111g:'1 in ~-1·r1:1i11 in,;t;111Ct's tl1t· l'('\'t'I':--<' "·a:-: ,;·1w. The 11111111,l'f' of ,-.1·< 0 dli11g: s 11h1ain('d artc·r lh(· !-o('<'t1lld ,·,·ar \\':tS 11111 su!'licit•Jl( In \\'al'l'alll lhl' 111:ii111(')1a11n· of 1111 · ,t·l·d ll(•d,; f,,,:a l1111gl'r 1l('ri11cl of tillll'. ln 1·xpt'ri n1t·11ts p1·ri11rnwcl I,~· I•:ssig gl-r111inati1111 \\'as 1101 i111pro,Td hy diippin_g dw !--1 ·1·d,;, 1,y pn·t'l1illi11g: at 3~ 111 -12 cl<·.1.:nTs F i11r 2 to -I \\' l 0 l'ks lwf11n· pla11ti1 1J.:-, Ill' 1,_,· pb111i11g 1!1t· rn·slrly ha>'\'('StC'II 1111clrit·cl S('l'd. \\'t·ak c1 .. ,..1.,.. 11i X-ra_,·:,; \\'(·n· ab11 111 ili7.<'cl \\'it 11 ..111 ,-.utTt":-s i11 an al tc·111pt \(l 1,n·ak I 11<· tl11r111a11<·,· of l ht· sn·d. \\'<·n·lm1t·i,-.1t-r (/I rq111rtt·d tlial 1111· 1·111hry11:-: ,,f 111,rmal iri!-o !-ol'l'd :i111l al11111n11al !--<·1·d \\'ith prn,rly rll·,·1·l11p1·d 1·111l11sp1·rn1. 11l1tai1wd l,y i1111·n·r11!--,i111-: \'ari< ·ti(·,; \\'ilh cli1Tt·n·11t l'l1r11111os1111w 1111111llt'r:;, c1111lcl I,<' nil111n·d 1111 a 11111ri< ·111 111<"di11111 r1111:-i:--ti11g: 11i l'ic·l'ft-r's s11lnti1111 pl11,-. a_(!:ir a11d 11 ..~ )'l'I' n·111 g h1t·11,;1· and lt-nJl,,,-.1·. ~t·c·dli11g,; \\'t•n· 11l,1aint'cl in,111 1111th in·-.hh· liar\'l·,J(·cl ;111d dril·d ,;(·t·,b. 1,nt a ,·1· n · li111itt·d 1111111la·r ni i11di\'irl11ab ;q.•p:in·nll_\· \\'l'l'I' im·nln·cl in tht· l'X Jl('ri'11H 0 11ls. 'Coup,·ratin· imT~li.[!ati,111 of ihc f)i,·isi1111 of Cereal Cr11ps :i,ul l.li,rasC"s. llurc:iu ,,f P lant fll(lllslry, Soils and :\i:rincltllr:il E11J!ill<'c·rillJ!. :\grirllltur;d H<•st·:irrh :\tlrni11istratin11. Unit<-,! S1a1<-s l>r11:-irt111r111 of :\,1? rirulturc, and tlw Dcparll11 c111~ ,,f P.otany anti Fl11r irullllrc· :11111 Ornamental llortic-11lt11rc, r-.:cw \'11rk ~talc C,,llcgc of :\gricultun·. I thara. ~ C'\\' York. 786. 1;~:H~11:-\Tu1:- 11F ~EEi> \·:-.· 111·:1< F1i-:1.11 C11:-1wrt11.'.'\s Tlw f11ll1111·i11g data T.\1!1.I·: l - l >.11., 11 ;,; <; t.11~ 11s ,,-r111s l>n11 ;,;1; nn: FrnsT Yt:.\I< .\rn: 11 1'1.A:-T1s1: 111' I 111, ~Fr11 01rr., 1;,; v.11 FIU>~I C11:-T1uu.1.1m I'<11 .1.1 :- ., ·11n :--:s I>• ·m :-,;c; n n: -l-Yi:.,w l't.,nr,,, 1'110.,1 IC).1S To 19-ll ~rC"fl1i1u-s Oht:iinr,.I l't-r (°rut ~11mltrr ()! lhc- F,,Jlnwin,~ Y C"l'\r Gr-rmin:uiun \nftmr-- The :1n·ragl' g1·rn1i11a1i1111 d11ri11g- tlw fir:-:t n·ar ni thc·sc· 12:i c111lures. "'hich i11d11dl'd a l11tal 11f -LBS s1Tclli 11 g-s fr1111·1 l .?.-1:-11 sc·l'Cls. was JS prr n·11t. 111 llwst· lria),. llw st'nl was air-dril'cl 1·ad1 IT:lr as soon as it was harn·,.l<'cl and plan f<'cl i11 t'ard11lly pr('par('d Sl'(.',t li<·cls in garcl('II snil "·ithin J In --1 \\'ct•ks aill-r har.n'sl. :"\11 wi11tc-r ce11·rr \\'as pn>Yiclcd and tlw St"vd l,1·d,- \\TIT ,.11l,j1·cl<·d 111 alt<-r11at<· frn·zi11g a11cl thawing- during tlw 1,·inin 111n11tl1:-:. 111 11>-!0 and J!J.J I tht· s1'(·d h<'ds 11·1·1T kq>t nH•l'l' tl111r1111glily w;1t<·n·d d11ri11.~ the pt·riod wht·11 gt·r111inatio11 was in prog ress in latt· :\pril a11cl :\la_v 1ha11 i11 pn·cTding y<'ars and this may han• h1T11 n·spr•t1"ilth· r.. .- th1· ""111nd1a1 i11rn·ascd /.!'l'l'llli11ation olitai1wd i11 tlw,1• n ·:1r-s. TIH; data rqu1rtc·cl in Taltl(' r ar1· r11r 1-_,·c·ar pniods frn111 tll(' (illl<' nf pla111i11g. Ir tllt' g1·n11i11atin11 during (11(' S('(' I 11 a11 ('fforl to i111prc 1\'(' the gcnni nat i!lll , ,i iris s(•ed Ya ri1 n,s ('x1wr1 - 11H·11t:,; ni a11 rxplnr;tl"r_l' rl1aractC'r \\TIT p('rfornH"cl 11nT a peri,,,I c',i sr\Tral y('ars b('gi1111i11.l! _in 193g_ For tlwsl' ('Xpni111e11ts a quantity of 111at111T, 11pc11 -prilli11atl'd s(·ed ,1·a,; rntlectl'd l'arh yr:ir from nu111ern11s ganl<-11 ,·aril'tirs grr111·i11g in ti](' br!'('ding pints. ,\ft('r l,eing thnmughl_1· air-drird thr seed 11·a:- slnn·d at rrn,111 l('llllH-rat u n· in a dry place until rl'a ch· t!I usl'. (·xcc·pl in certain c:qwri111('11ts im·oh·ing fr('slily hanTSt!'d SlTcl: Test s (If 1·ario11s ph~·si1ilngil'al f:icturs that might n · I .011·-'1"1·:~1 l'EH ,\Tl "IH: ~TOH ,\1 ;1-: OF :\frnsT _.\i\"I) DHY :-;EEi) Sct•d that had l1el'll air-dricd fnr ---1- '" (1 11·(·cks afll'r ha rn ~st \\"as plac\'d in dry storage al - 2 rlt·grees C. 0 dcgn·c and 4 dcgrl'\' S C for 1·ario11s 1wriml of ti11a· . ra11J1;i11g from 2 lo 12 \\'C't'ks. Similar Int~ 11·c1T st"rl'd i11 111"i sl ~a nd al tll('s,· sa11w (l'llljwra111n·s and i11 r till' ..;a111e pt'riods of t i11w . .- \ s a ("'>Ill n ,I ('Xpnillll'lll . add it ion al samples 11·c1-c plart'd in 11T1 a11d dry storag(' al rrn1111 [('lll ]JC'ratun· ranging- from 20 '" 25 rl('gn'l'.~ ( · ior 111(' saml' i11 t('rl'als ,.f ti111c . .'\ ftl'r l1Talllll'11t. thl' StTd 11·as pbntt'cl in thl' grl'enh,,us(· and the (Illa! nwnl1n of sel'dli11gs )' rodun·d I 1_1· car I I sa11 '1pk \\"as recorded 8 llH 1111 hs afll'r l lw l<'r111i11a t ion "i tl1e i11cli1·iclual l rl'at111e11 ts. Tl1l'Se data arc s11111111ariz,·d in Tal1le 11 . T.\lll.l·: II-C;1,:1n11:,;A-r1 11 :,; !' r. Hn: :-;-r.~ 1:1-:s OnT.111,EI> Flm~t \\In ,l ,'W DH\' !~is St: i-:11 Sn,u1-;1, ,\T \' AH 111 1:s l.011· Tor i't:1un ·Hr:~ ro1< D11-Trn1-::,;T 1'1-:H101,s 11F T1~n: : ·..:; ·,7 .;;::.-. -. ·:. ·-·' ' . · -··. ·.-;:.. : - ..:..:::.:.. •• .•• --· - ·- · ·:.:.~.:--- - -_ _.... .= :....·-=-·:. .::.:;-..:..·;.-;-_-~..=;,_ -::-.=.:.: II IJcc n• c C - .. \\"et 1 · lJr ;· Wet Urr \\'et I Dri· \\"et Dry 1:! .l, j' ' I I IH lfl 1,; 1:1 ,I :11 . ' :.!';' I ~Ii I :! I ! Pi , .:.!ll :!:, l !I in Ill H :!H :1.-. :?:, :.!:~ 17 I!"> 1:! J_:l~ :.!ii :12 :rn 1:1 12 ------I •J\ n :-r,wtt {,.,r ~ \\t!!'k trc:tlf1 i1.•nt:s al :.!' rk J:rc· r-:- C , O de,: n·t· C , -I 1lC' i 1 rct•s C: we t. Pi pn ci ·n t : rlq· I-: pt·r c:r. n l . A,.-n,u!< '. for ,i trJ l 2 w(' ek l n·a l mc-1H:-. :u -~ d c ;·1f·~·s C . ti dt::i- rcc C , -I rlc~ rc(·:-. C; ...,-cl :.!8 pt•r (T nt: rlry '.!ft Jil'r cet1t. A\·l'r;u '. C- lhr l" •·111t r11 b . 1u•ld f, ,r !! tr, 12 w e 1."k :-. :ir ~o lr, :;r, dl'grce~ C : w i..•t l !) p t'." t c:< ·11t: 1lry Hi pt•r cc11t. I ... 11· t1·11q ,l-ra t111"\' s111ragl' f"r pl.'ri,,cls sli 11rln tlia11 2 1nTks had mi appnTial ,I\' l'l°f<'CI <111 l ht' Ii 11al gnmi11al i, ,11 JJL'ITL'll tagL· hut storage at -2 d,·g rn ·s C. -t dt'glTL'S C i"r J•t·rirnls "i ---1- !CJ 12 1n:l'ks did ha1-e a lw1wficial t·l"fc·ct which ll"as apparcutly indt']l('!Hll'lll <>f Lil(' lrn1pl'ralt11T \1·it hi11 tlH' ran~t· 1)1 -2 cll'.t:'l"l'l'.~ tn 4 dl'g-n·c·s ( ". \ \'('( storagl· c,mdii1wd ll'il Ii J,,11· 1, ·111pnat 11 n•s incrl'ased the rate of g-en11 i11at iou as re nnpared 11·it I I dr_\· stc,ragl'. I ,ut t lw li11al fl 1111;11 T1 -: ;\11•i-:1t ,\n:1u-: TRE,\Tat r-: :,.;T OF :'l forsT A;-.;11 DRY Sr-:i-:n Dry Sl'l'ds 11"1 1irh l1ad l1e l' 11 st u n ·d at rnc,111 kmpernture for 4 11Hi11ths 11T 1T placed in a11 l'kctrir i11c11liator 111ain1aint'd at a r1111 sta11t tt·111pera t ti IT ri{ .,S dl'gn·c·s C f11r a pnicu 1 of :l 11·c.'l'k.,. Oil(' sa11tple of d ry seeds lw i11g pla("(·cl in papn parkl·ls and another r11111parahll' sampll' ll('ing plan·d 1111 11111ist lil1t·r papl'r in pl' lri c!ishl's .. \t tlH' l'llcl uf the lrl';it11w11t Ill\' lrt·;11t·d Sl'l'cls 11'('1"(' plantl'd i11 thl' gT,·t·1il1<111.,e tc,gl·Lli\'r with si111ilar 11111 r,·:t lc·d , t·c·cl., [c, '-\'I'\' ( ' as a cl1 tTI, . l·:arh sa111pll' t·o11lai1ll'd 60 SL'l·d~ . \\"i 1l,i11 .l 111 <>1 11'1 ., aftt'r th<' ln111i11alin11 .,f IIH' c·xpni11w11t. ,t() pn tTlll 788 . 11i lhl· 1111,i:-1 :--l·t·ds that h:111 111·1·11 .s 11 bjn·1t·d 1,1 tht· liig-h lt'llljll'l';111in· tn·a ln1l'11t had g1-r111ina11·rl: 11111_1' 3 J•t·r : \I.TEl!."\ ,\TI N(: I .Ill\' :\."\IJ \IOJ>El(,\ '1'1-: T1·: ~11·EH .\Tl'KE.S Thi· dfrct 1111 cl1Jrnta1K_\' 1Ji <·xp11.si11g 1111,i.sl iris S<'l'il ahc·rnatdy to 1111\' tt·11qwral11n·:s a11d lt·111p<·rat11 n·s ia1·11rahl<- t11 g<-r111i11:iti11u ll'as d1·t1·rn1i1ll'rJ ill a .Sl'l' ic·S 1,i l'Xlw ri1111·1tt.s llltcl1·rtak1· 11 i11 ,/a1111:tn· 1'1311. :-;tTrl that \\':tS han·c·.stl'd i11 :\11g11 :- t l'J3X a11d pl:tn·cl i11 dry .st11r:t!,!I' at rrn1111 tt-111pna111n· ait<·r lt<'ing tl111rc,11ghly air-rlri .. d i11 :,;11nlight \\';tS pla11H·rl in 11u ,i,1 :--a11t l i11 1w1ri disl11·s. 111 ,,1w 1·xpni11H·1 ll 10() :--l'l·d.s 11T1T s11li jt'l'lt'd t11 111·ar-fr<'(' zi11 g 11·111pnatur.. ., a11d :--1il1-frn·zi11g lt·111- 1wrat11n·:- ir111 11 + .S d1·gnTs 111 - IS rh·grc·,·s (·for 1 \\Tl'k, tlw11 n ·tlll'IH' J-:vv1·:<"r o r: :'11 1-:1 11:\ D1FF1·:H1xc; 1:s: II Y11Ro1 ;1,:s: To:-: CO:">C'E:S:Tl(,\TIO;'I: .\11 aclclitin11al lt· st 11f tht· 1111 s:-iltk cffrd t>i h_\' J·:FFFl"I' tJ F f.l<:ll'r 11 ."\ {;J,: JOJ l."\.\'l'JCI:',; ~a111pl(':- 11i frn:hly harn·:-lt·d :-tTcl 11Tn· d ri1·d i11r Ill cla,·~ in tlll' ~11 11l igl1t and in 1l w dark a t 30 dt·grn·~ t11 3S d,·gn·<·~ C and th(:11 planl l'd 111 tlw 11,11al 111a1111n 11·ith 1111 sig11ilir a111 dilh·n ·m·t· i11 th<' 11u1nlll'r 11i ,n·dli11g:- 11 h1ai 1wd the· f11ll11\\'i11g spring. . .-\111,tlwr ~:1111pl<' 11i irl'slily '1:tr\'t'Slt·d :--l'< ·d 1ra:-- clri<'d in tlil' :-; 1111li gl11 l11r :-t·\·l'ral cla_,·:-; and tl1t·11 "<':tllc·n·d in shall,111· trt·11d1c·s and It-it un \'111·1'l'<'d i11r 11m· 111.,nth . during 11·hid1 p1 ·ri11d tht'y 11·,·n· ll'aln1·d 1n·1pn·11tly 111 pn·1·1·nt 1·xrc·,:- ,1(-~in·alion. TIH·1· wt·n· thl'1t r11\Tn·rl \\'itli 1111 ,i,t :-ni l i11 tlu· usual n1a111H"r. :\ similar sa;nplt- ni ~1·1·d 1\·a.: l n·al\'d in tll<' :-:11 11\· 111a1nwr 1·x1·t'1'l 1ha1 it 1ra~ r11,·t'l'l'd ll' ith s11il in11111 ·cliatt'h· aitt·r ht·i11g plant<·1l. Thi· i11ll11\\'i11g ~pring 12 pt·r 1T1tl ,,( tit,· lif,!'lit t1Tatt·cl sn·rl~ pr11d11tTd .s1T1lli 11 g:- a:s ~·11111pan·rl with .?X p1 ·r n·nt fr11111 1111 · ,.. ,:.1:1\.)lll!lll,l,) J!IJIU (}()~ ".l,l),)111! Ill,),) .l!IJll.l ()():" < >~ 11 s 1111:.1:i ~-·J u:--1 Sltll!Jj ~~ -~ ,:< >~:SI Sllll!.lj 'JTZ I ,.~ I I t--~ I ,:, ) ~ JI!_) / ·' 1111_1/II/IIS ·1Ppp1: 11.1q1 .,.1.,.,, ~1111!1111••" )( l,ll.l Jill I I),\\ I ;-/11!,\\C' II") .iq 1 .I" q.11:.1 J' I ,,[ ,) J,Hll! ll l,l.) ,)!( 11 I.) : · I'' LI? .I \!:it? ·'" llct!ll\JIIS Ill'! ,)ljl ll! Jl,l.\(11 :0:'.'o! P .l,l,).\\ ,lSC>,l.lll, ·.r ·. ) J<> ,1111?.1;-/ oz. p,lS.(.lcl,!P .\[,l\.11'h110.1 s 1: .,, .11 :;i1: ,Hp .t,llJ\' ·.1.111:.,, p ,1(1!1:0:!P ,:'i!l!l!"'I J" .l,))!I I 11! .11::i1: J" s11n:.1.f L :i11!S ..1.)dS!1' .\q p.u1:d.ud :-i:.,, 11 111!1'·1111 .11::i1: 111.1!.111111 ·"I.I. 'Jl!.:it! )ll,)1,1111!1 ,11!·1,)JS J" S.l,)),llll!)ll,l.) ->!qll.) Ill .:111!11 !1:J(lll,l S,l[llll'I d1:.l ,\\,}_l.)S ',l.)111111~ I Ill Sllt>! l![Hlt>.l .>!1d.1s1: .1,1p1111 ·'1(1:llp!·'!lllt! p .1.1.1.>J•-111:.11 .1.1.1.,, '"I j>.1!1[1 ,H[I J" sc,.\.Hllll,) [>,)S!,1X,l ,Hp p111: :-11.,·.1q11t,) ,H[J ,NHIX,) Ill ,\fll!ll!jlll)!;-/11111 p,lllll!l,l,)S ;isoq ) ·sp.l.lS l,)l!)ll! ,lll,I, ·p,l,!,IX,J .\[,>1,11d11111.) ,),l,).\\ :- p.l,>S )'' 1•>1 l'·l!l[I ,ll[) J" StJ.\.IC(lll,l ,ll[) : lll.t,)d Stt[lll,l ,ll(l jll .\)!,\l!.l ,lljl ll! :ill!,\I 11,\.lljlll,) ,lip Ji> tjl?ill,)[ (lllJ ,Hp ,>:-rn lxJ •JI .\1[l!ll!l'IIJ!:ill1JI jl,lll11!J.1.1s ,l.l,l.\\ I"[ .1,11111n11: J'l S(J,l,JS Jljl 'jtl.1)1111.l 1! ,1: ,l,\J,lS ctJ J.)l!)ll! Jj,l( ~I!.\\ 111[ :111() 'S[>,l,),i ()~ .\[,lJ\!lll!XIJ.llldl! ::lll!lltl!Jllt>.) q.11:.> ·s1•11 J,).1111 OJll! p,1(>!·'!11 pm: l~) ,l)!,IC•jll·l -od.,11 lllll!J(I!.) JO ""!lll!•>S SIHJ,)llln: p.)Jl!JIIJl!S l! II! S.IIIJJlj z .IIIJ p:ii!l!·'·ll:O: 11,llJJ .).1,).\\ sp.:i.,,: ,lllJ. ·p,l,lS ,)l[I JC> (111,l .ll!J.\dll.1,1!111 ,ll[l }IJ .\)!.\I!,) ,ll[I ltlll.(j IJ ,\.ll[lll:l ,l Jl!.l!j·ll' ,ll() jll lll•!S!.lX,) ,Hp ,)ll!l!l! -l l!J JJJ ,') :-.).).t,:i.>p IJZ .JU .I,))\!.\\ dt:) l'! ,-.tlllllj [·Z .IIIJ [),)~[ l!OS ,).1 ,l.\\ Sjl,J,lS .\)HJ JJ,).(j>lllllj ,Ill() 'S(>JJS SllO!ll!.\ 11! S,l,Hll?l: ·l[IIS .:ill!l!•l!l(ll! q.111s l" ,l.)IIJIS!X,l ,)Ill p,l)l!.l)Slllllll,)p ,l.\1?'1 s.1.11p11 put: (Z) xn_') J" S)ll,Hll!.l.11h:.1 Sll11!·'·1.1, I "ll(>! Jl!ll!IIIJ,l.:i l!'l!l[ll! IP!'!·'' 11.\.tq111.1 ,1111 .:iU!Pllll11.1.111s s.1.1111nsq11s J" .1.1u.1s.1.11l ,)111 .111J JS,l) 01 p.1.u,1s c,:-p! 111-1111 · !.t.>tlx,1 :0:!11.1. ·11u.1d,:"['t1,1 .11p 'II!·" t.ll!l(l11.l 1t! .:-i1t! ·'l n,,.1q111.1 .11p .1,:rnlx.1111 J(l!I[ II! JIU '.'< 1: .1\ p,l,h ,lip .Ill ' ,(ht!l!jlllll:, ,l! )d,l:-1! .1,l[llUl .11:;fo lll,l!.llllll \llJ 11->.111 qn.1 ptw p.,.i-; ,lt(l 1111>.1J p.1.,11111.1.1 .u.1.,, s11.,.1q1u.1 1.ll!lll! ,Hp l[,l!II·' ' Li l )ll,1111! ,l,ll[X,l Ill! 11 ! llt>!ll!ll!lll.l.l;f .:ill! l!l[!l[ll! S.lllj,)l!J ,l['(!S"CH[ SI! p.111:11 · !lll!l·l ,l.1,),\1 11,\.ll[lll,) ,1111 .:il!IS•t[.lll,l S,)IISS! I JO Sllll!)l![,1.1 .\J!l!ljl!,)l(l.l,l, I .\ .1:o-:,· 10111< 1 o .\>1111..::,1 cu. 101:1o1sm1:--::,1 :•Il l .I. : Iii ,ll llS.'\Cll.1.\"1:1~1 :•Ill.I. 11:S:\' :l>l. l.l,'1.1,) t>.\U!I 1x:,J '1111! l\!ll!lll.t,l;-/ 1111 ).l,IJ,J·l Jl!!,>(I -.lll,11[ 1! ,1:q 11[;-;!lllll'.-- 11! p,>,>:- (l,)),:,1,\.l l!l( .\(l(S,l.lJ ,111 ;-i11!.\.ljl ,ll(I ll!l[I ,\\,)! ,\ l(t,ljl!.\,l.111 ,ll[l J.111dd11, cq [>,ll!l!J SJll,llll!.1,ld X,l .l~,ll!\ J•> SJ(I\S.).I ,111,J. ' IICl!llnl !llt.1,):i \ 11 ,l,l .1,1d Zf p,l jl[,l!.\ ~lll,llllll!,l.l) J11 ' ,; ,l !.1.,..; ,ll(Lt!,; ,ll jl 111 , ,.1p.1(cp1-.. jllll! p11,; 1( 1!-" p .u .),\JI,) S[>,1,lS ')ll,>lll!.l,HIX,l (11.1)1111.l ,ll(I II [ ·,1;1111 q · (l.l,).l:i ,ll[ ) 11! '~[,l,l.\\ CJ .l,)1_11! till! ll!ll!lll.l,l.:i Ill,).) .l,ld (Jf p,ljlj,l!,\ ·.t,l.\,}.\\ll'I ·1ptt111t1 I .111_1 :,;.1.11111:.1.)dlll.l) :ill!Z,l,l.lJ-.ll!,lll 111 111,>lll ,1ll!l,1,l!°•pl:- (1111! I!''" Ill!·\\ :O:[',l,l'- ,1q1 :ill!.l,l.\11,) ·1111!1l!ll!lll.l,J.i J'> ,l.111,ll'!·I,) till ljl!,\\ !-IIJlll>lll Z .lt>J . ) ~.1.1.1:i.>(' (lt' •ti "·'·>.1:i.1p 'JI 11: 111:i!( oJ 1,,,,11.tx.1 .\[[IIJ (1111! ""!ll:.1tuh?.,.1 p .11!1,l.l 111 ',-.. J!(:i _Ill J.).Jq,; l) l(Jl!,lll,)C I !'111!, J,!tJ(ll ltll (',l)lll!fd ,)J,l.\\ ~l(lllC>llt ( .ltJJ .,-.1p •,l ! 1! [ J,l.ltJ I" 11,)l [\ ['l l 1! I L[.:i! (llllS l l! IJ·l!,l( J ll,l.lq pt:q )l?l II p.1.1 ,; 'll" I il!,J.11-.. ,1[1 !" J.> .>JJl ;-i ll ![•.lt!l,l.l ,ll[ I ,l1l!ll!lll![•l 11J 'Jll,llll!,l.HIX,l J .l'. [l1Jlll! 11 [ 7 9 0. Tliv 1111tri t' 11l a.!.::1r 111nli11111 pn·p;1n·d in 1l1i~ 111a1111cr liacl a pf I .,j _;,'; 1,1 r,.J f,.11 .. 11·i11g- ,-tl·ril i1ati"11 i11r in1111 i.:; 111 JO 111i111111·s 111 tlH· a11l11cl:i n•. l;or s111all 11u111hc.-r,; of h11ltlt-s Slcrilizalio11 for I:- 111i1111ll'/- al I:::; p111111SJ•l1:1tc· 11':t S 11 s,·d as a s11111T1' of plt11.,pha11· !-inn· it f11n11s a !'olul,(1· 1·11111)'l1·x with 111 ,llt ir"n awl t·:ilri11111 l11 pn11(11n· a pi·ri<"t.:lly dear 1111lril'11! agar in \\'hich 1111th !IH· iron :111d raki11111 pl111 sph:itt· l'(']t1ai11 i11 sn l111i .. 11 f.,r i11rldi11ik )'l'ri,.cJs .,f ti111c· . Tiu• l-011111'!' ,1·n·11·-ca)' l,olllt·s 11·1·1T !'i111ilar to tli11H' r1·1· 11 11111w11,kd 11\· T11kc·\· ( (, ). ll'ilh 1111' 1·xn•plin11 th;i1 tlw wa:sl'CI pap,·r ancl canl111,anl .. ;·,1ai1a·1< \l'\'l't' n·1111,\Td tn f:icilitat (' gas cxcltangc. :\,, 111orc l ha11 l \\'t, 1·111liry"s \l'<'l' C placl'd i11 t·ach htilllc in orrkr to li111it lhl' .,prmdi11g of c"nlan1i11alion.~ and 111 ins11rt' aclc·quatt· :n·ralion of lhl' dn·dripinl,!' si-crlli11.t.:s. F,1]),,ll'i11g l'Xt'isi,111. lfw I Sil h1,tlks ,,i stTds and l'tt1l1n·11s 11·('1'\' tran, inn·d 111 1lu· rliff11 .-t· lig'ltt nf a ft'l'nt·n· shar\('d h1· d;,11lile lan:-rs coi ch1Ts1·d111h. Tlw d iffuse light \\'as s11ffa:ic·111 frn· chir>r11ph_l'II f11i111ati <>!l anrl ph11t11-_1"11tlwsis l,111 Jlrl'\Tnlc·d injury In tilt' dl'li ·att· grnwi11~ pnint l1_1 · dinTt 1·x1'""lll't' I<> sn11lig-hl. :\ftt-r 10 days in tlt l' dilTuSl' light. leaf and r," ,t d1·1·(' l11p11H·nl c,f I h\' n 1111plt·t<:l_1· l' xri Sl'[I t·111hryu., 1n·n· laki 11;.: plan· al a rapid rail- and thl' l,11t1h·s w1-r1· th,·11 lranskrn·d tn direel lighl i11 llll· gn·<·11l1CJt1sc· ll'lll'r<' the 111axi11111111 daily air t1·1n1••·ral11n· wal ;1ppr11xi111:t11·ly 1111 dq.:T1·1·~ F. Tht· din·cl light a11cl higlwr lt·1111wr:tlmc _,1 i111n lalt·c 1 r:1J>id lt';1 f '1<·1·<·lnp11 H·111 al11ng ll'it h an c xt (·11~in· and \1TII lira11rlwrl n11,1 ".'°Sll'lll s11ilalile f11r tra11spla111i11g-. . \I 1111· 1·1n l nf -11 da _\ '1-, all gc·n11i11a11•rl s<·1·cl and ,·1111,r_n ,-. I\TIT Iran!'· i1·rn·,I 111 a . 1niliz1·d JH>llill.l!' 111ixt111T ,,j :,;and .111d rr,1111'""' i11 2-i ucl,. -.1 nilf• da_1· I '"l "· . \ ft!·r I wi 11g- phrerl i II a rr u ,I tiff It irl li11t1.<1: al a liig-h h11111idi1 _1· :md in diffu._r light f11r ! 1,·1Tk Ill<' lr:tll'-pl:1111:a \\Tl'(' l,n,11g-l11 hark !11 !Ill' g-n·1·11h1111,-c- 1111dl'r l''ll1diti1111 !-' :,;11i1al,lc· i11r ")'li11111111 grr ,,•. lh. Tl1c· [!'t·n11i11atir111 lil'ha1·i11 r 11[ 111<· iu1;1rt ~(T T .\ 1:1. 1-: ! 11 c;1,: u~11:- .,·rt11:,; 11F l."< T .11 .,. St.El•, i-: ~1 "'"'"" 1:- l 'c,:sT.1e T 11'11'11 O:-.t:-l l.1 1.t 111 · T IIE E:,;1 u1!' n :r111 .1:--11 Co~11·1 .F,TF 1.,· E:,; nsEu E~111un,-: ..... IHI !' 1)1·R1:s,; ,\ l'Ell!CIII OF -11 J}.\\'" :1 ",, ,; n II ! ,; C ;1·r111i11ati,,,1 .,j th(· exri.~1· cl <"1111,ry"s pr111liwC'rl 1101n11al ,-y11111ir-trical ~t'l·dli11;.:". 1111! llll' C"XJIClS('d !'tlll,ry"s in i11ti111:ttli cn11(arl ll'ith C'rHlo~pn111 1iss11c d1·1·1· l1111C·d slowh· anrl 11-i:t'l' 11flt·n 111arkt·dly ckfon111"cl. l lowt·i·t•r. i11 lTrtai11 instam·t·s tlw 1'11111 ga1i11 g t·1nl>ryn" pnsh(·cl a,1·a~· frn111 rlo:-c c11111;1c1 11'itl1 lite C'l1cl11spn111 and 1lwrcaftt'I' grt'I\' al a 11111n• rapid ratc-. ,·"111pa ra f1IC' tn l hat 11[ I lw cri111pl1·t l'ly l'x,·i~\'d ('t]l hr_1·11 s. :\ 111rn1g the «lt-1"C·l")'i11.!.'. S<'l'«lling-s tl1a1 n ·111ai111·d in i111i111at1· 1·onlat'l \\·i1h till' <·ncl11- :-,pn111. i11liil,i1i1111 nf growt h 11·a:-- :i)'parcnl in thc- rarlirll' a11cl !>l'l·«111rlary r,11,t:-. ;i11,J till' 1•ri1nary ~n·dli11g lt•a1·c·~ 11Tn' lik<'ll'i ~t· li111 il<'d i11 grnll'lh and dl'lirit·11t in rltloro)'ltyll. 111 (Ill' i11 iti:el ~,agl'S .. r dl•\'\''")l!IIC 'lll tlw c·xr isl'rl c-111l1ryo~ gn·\\' 111«1'(' rapidly 1li a11 did llin:-l' ni 1111· i111ar( StTd 11r thns1· in ro11tnct with 1·111l11 - ~prrn1 1i:-,!--t11·, h111 thi~ ~i t11:1tirn1 ,1·;1.· lal <'l" n•1·rrsC'd. :\t thr l'lld c,f ~J ,J;i~-~ .,,·c·clli11.t!:- nrigi11al i11g iro111 tilt' inlart ~reel~ a,·cra_[,'.C'cl 11 .23 791. r1·11ti111 l'ic-rs 111 la·i1-:h1. thw,l' dcrin·d fnJJ11 <·11tl1ry11s i11 n111 tad \\'ith a pnrti1111 11f lhl' l'1Jd11sr,1-r111 a,·nag<·d 9.:--:2 l'l•11ti11ll'f('l'S ancl thn:-c: from n,cis(·cl ('1111,ryns 11·<·n· 6.1.17 l·c·11ti111ctn, in hc·ight. I )11ri11g I ft<· laH·1· stag('S 11f ,1t-\'(-lu p11H ·11t Ill(' inhil,it ing dkl't 11( tlw l'IHl11s11<'J'JII I issue is appan·11 1fy 11\'Cl't'1JIIH' 1,y I Ii(' d<:\'dnping- sc<·< ll i11J!s \\'hich th<'n 111ak(' c·l'firienl 11sc· nf the n •sc·n ·1·s in till' <·11rln~pt•rn1 tiss11c· to s11ppl<-1m·11t i,111r l 111a1 n ial;,; f11rnishl'd Ii_,· tht· 1111t r i('11t nwcli1_1111 and Ii_,· 11h11to,y11thl'si~. Fn1111 thi;,; (';,qwri1111·111 it " ·:1 :- ro11rl111h·rl 111:it tll<' 1·11do;,;per111 ti;,;,-;111· cif tlw iri-. StTcl clt"linitl'iy i11lti l,its tll<' g1·n11i11ati1111 and c·arly growth and cl<·,·l·l11p111 t•11t 11( tlw S<'c·rlling. This i11hil,iti1111 ,·xtt·nds to all parts ,,f 1111' s1·c·, 1l i11J.!". i11d11cli11g tlH' primary :-<·c·,lli11.~ l,·a,·c·s :a11cl chl11r11phyll i11n11:i1inn. Till· rlc-gT<'(' .. r i11hihitin 11 is grl':\(('S( in int:tl'l S("('" \\'hl't'(' tht'n· is 1111 11 pp11rt1111 i1y f11r tlw dorn1a11cy-i11d11r i11g iact"r to cliff11sl' 11111 i11t11 thc :1 C11 11°1 °1 :--<; 1·:xl'l-:111 ~,F..'-T~ I 11 ;1 11rdi111i 11 ary rhippi11 g- 1·:-: 1wri1m·nt d1·siJ,!111·,l t" iarili1 a,,. dw rc·111111·:d 11i tlw i11ltihi1i11j.!' :-.1110-tam·e, fr11111 tl 1<· S< 'l' I.J-:,\( ' fl t .:-:1; .\:\"ll ('1111·1•1:--t: l·: :-:n:Rn11-::\"TS .\ iurd1,·r i1wn·:is1· in lh<' f'('I T<· tt lagc 11i sc·crls thal c11ulcl lu· indun•cl '" g1·n11i11at,· pr<>111ptl_,· 11·as 1,l,tai1wd h_,. r1,111hi11i11g 1hr chij'ping tn·llllir with lc-:whi11J.! in ru1111i11g \\'al 9t 9f t·t ':JZ OI .).lll:'~.ud 11.>:i.i:--11 p.>s 1:.u;111! ·s 11.i.1,; p .1dd!'I.) ZZ ZZ ~I rl II 11.1:i.{:-.1111:llf,!l!Pl'l! 111 1 ·sp.1.1, p.1cld!11.) !. !) f I I l .1.111,:-.ud 11,>.:i.,x,1 p ,1s1:,>.1 .111! ·s11,J.i,; 1.11:1111 ~ ~ f u u 11,).:J.ixo (l!ll• '! 1!1'1'1! 1111 ·sp.1.is 1,11:1111 :-tJJ_\\ :-p,l.\\ )[.>:>_\\ ~[J~_\\ )j,l,>.\\ l[IJ!:I l[lJll": I ('J!ll.f. Jllt11.>,1s l>' J!:I . : S.\\ll((OJ ,;1: Sjl!.\.l.l)ll! .\(:-j,),l.l\ )1! f1,l(l,lt1.l.l.l ,;1:.11 ,l.lllll!,l,ldtll.J) 111011.I 11J .) S,),l.l;i,)(l f· JI! ,l;-/1!.l"I' 1111,.1_1 sp.1.1,; ,Hp 1'' .l,lJSlll!.I I 1! ;iu!·''"flOJ lll>!)l!ll!lll.l,)~ .>.:i1:111.)J.t .)d ·"I.I. ·111 ,m1d11p.,.1p .:iu!11•,i.1,; p:111.1i111 II! (PJ(IIS.>.1 .if!.11:11!1).lo :iu!pu.1,1 .1!' 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J" 1-),lJJ•> .>II.I, :111.1,;,;;1i1.1 .-: :-1:1.\X() 11:-1:-:,·,nu:-; ,1 •,JS LIUl(llJ.).I ;i Jl[l ll! ,\(l,),l.1!1' (J,1111\:ld S(',)JS p ,l p!.l.111111 lllll.lj (>,lll!l!lljll l111!ll!ll!Lll.J,l;-f ,lljl ?lll!\l!lll!XtWid1: Sllt(I ·,;1p11111t1 · £6L 79 4. prt"ss111T 11f l III' d1ip1'<·d :-• ·<·els 1Ts11h l'd in a11 add it i1111al :--ig11i lira11t i11cn·a:--t' i11 g1·n11i11atin11 cof ll1t· s1Tds during lhl' -1--1\'<'l'k pni"'l iollow ing t1Talnw11 t. :\ppa1T11tly. tlw i11t al·f st·<·d restrid<·d lhc t·ntry ni su(lirit·nt :1111t 11111ts <•f h111h ll'att-r and oxygc11 lo indttcr germination of any :q,pn-rial,lc n1 11 11h<·r of S('(·cls dllri11 g tlw 9-11·<:ek period tht· 1·x1wri111c·1lt was in pr11gn·ss. \\'h1·11 atn111spht·ric 11xygt·11 and wat<'I' \\'<·rt· 111ad1· n·ad ily ;11·ailalil< · 111 Ill<' t·111liry11s l1y chi1•ping the scccl ,- 1,, 1·x 111 •.-1· till' t ip ni th<· r:1didt· 1l1c ptn·t·11tag<· gnn1ina1i,,11 was i111-r<·a,,·1l. awl tlwn· 11·:i:-- a furllll'r i11nVi1s1· wl1t·11 additi,,nal oxygl'n wa., 111arl1· a ,·a il;tlil<·. ('0.111:1:--1-:1> ('11 11•1•1x1 :, lx1·1 .1\"1,:i:.\'11\'I-. l, t-: Sl'l.1'S ()111',\l:-.:r:11 l'IW .\( l 11.,1:-T1xr; F nF-~111.Y I L\11\'ESTEll S1-:1-:11 ,\:>;ll Fncn1 l 11m1.o:-,;c1m STm I .o.s:r:r·:\·rTY OF fr,r<: Sr-:FI! Tiu· 1·i:d1ilit.1· "i 'iris S<"cd thal liacl lll'<"II .strtr\'d al r,11n11 t1· 111 1"·ratt1n· i 11 11rrli11ary .s,·1·cl p,1l-k<·t s f1 >r pni11ds of 2. --1. :1 rn 1 12 y,·,tr~ 11·,1~ dd n- 111irwd in tlw f1,lln1ri11rt rna111wr. Sa111pl1·s c111nprisi11.l.'. 1nixed l"ls r,i "P<'ll -pr,1Ji11alc·d StTcls, <"arl1 l"I ha1·i11g h<·1·11 n,ll1Tt1·rl ir"lll 111a11y dii i1·r\'lll 1·a ri1·t i1·s 11i lward1·d iris. 11T1T ~nakt'd in tap \\'at1•r f, ,r 2--1 1ir 1urs. suri:in· ~t<"riliz('d f,,,. 2 lu111r., 11·ith a saturated ,Hpw11us ~"ltnir111 ,.f caki11111 hyp<>rhJ,,ril(', ;me! d1ipp1·rl I" ITlllCJ I'<· till' rap rif tissul' cn1·ni11;.: t lw rarlirh· "' t lw t.·11111ry". Tl1e s1·L·ds 11T1T t lw11 plac('rl i II pd ri dislH·~ l·ri1Jlai11i11g- t:q, 11·ater lhat 11·as r1n1slantly rt·plenish('d fn,n1 iaucets adj11.s(('d I• , rlril' ll'alcr into the dishes .. \s soon as 1·1nhryns .,f i11cli1·icl11al · s1·<·d,; t'lCJTl/.!'•ll\'d s11llit·iently '" projl'ct appr,,xi111a1<·ly I 1nil li11wt1·r lwyond tlH· s11rfare nf thc c11cl osper111 -tlil'y 11·n1· transkrri·d t" 111fli .,1 liltcT papn i11 petri dishl's mai11tai1wd at r""lll t<"1111wrat1m·s. lbil.1· rt'l'llrds 11f J.'.l'l'llli 11a1 inn W<'l"C k1•pL f 11 clni11i: l Ji is it· 1\·as rn·n•ssa r~· I" n·c,,rrl sq>aratdy thl' 11t1111hcr "f (•mhry<,s t]1;tt had elongated and llil' t111111l wr that shrnn•d in acid it inn to C'lnn.i:::1! i"n. 1·1·irlrnrr 11f gl'nl rnpir lic-mli11!-!' a11rl rlrl'<"l C1p111rnl into 11nr111al S(·< ·clli ngs. si11cr so1m· rmliryns <'1"111-!'al<'d l,ttl failrd to cnntimtr gr.,wth. Th<" first trial::; 1nTl' 111ark 11·i1h lots of apprnximatrly SO c-c1·ds and tlw r('s1tlls at tlw encl of 15 days an· rcrnrrlcd as Seri<'s i\ in TahlC' n·. The cx1wri11w11!s \1·rrr then rql('alcd with additin11al samplcs nf seed. r.11C· serirs llC'ing- chipper! a11rl kaclierl as in the prrrrdinc:: 1rial. and :1 sern11rl sf'l'ir~ hcing- chipped :111d t hc11 .sl "rrd at 4 rlrgrrrs C in an at111ospllC're nf SO per rent oxygrn for J 11·r·l'ks and finally kacll<'d in fln11·i11g- tap 1rntcr for 1.'i days. Thi' reslllt s ,.f I lws(' t riab arr n•c, 1rd<'rl as Seri!'s n and (" in Ta hie l Y. Tlil's<· data :,;,,, ~11, of En1lin·n:-: .\1· 1• 1, i ~,·i ·,I E:i.: 1Jrrimn1t I'<-,· c,~1it i11 \'t·:,,-s Sr: ri,,.., I E l•,n 1·;1tC"il \\"ludi C1mt1 1{m·d CtC"rmi11atio11 I Emhryn, [ )1··.-,·lnpmc-nt A :t.! I\ ,\i (' ~!I .-\ ll C ,I :~_-, 1·• JI n C :11 l"'IT('llla.~1· .l'.('l'lllillali :,-;1. ~1 ~I.\ RY .\ .'- I> (.'11.'\l'I.\ -~ 10:S:S I ri- ,,·,·rl 111 ,rn1;tll\· r<'lllain:- ,!11r111a11t inr ,;1 ·,·1·ral 11111111 h;; i11ll 11\\'1 ·cl 1,y p:1r1 i:1I. i11 1,•n n i1 tc·ni" gl'rtlli11 al i1111 11,·,·r :1 J'l' ri11,J ,,i :-:1•\'<•ral_ ~Tar:-:. T_II<' 1•rn-c·111 age· gl·rn1i nal i, ,11 111 ,1 :ii lll'rl ir111 n di ff1·n·111 :-an 1pl1·,; 111 :"'lTd ,·a nc,-. 111 :ukcdll·. ll11r i11g- tile -1 -~·<'ar pcri,1d ir11111 1'13~ t11 l'J-11, lr11111 1-1 111 5tl pn r;·11111i tlH· ;;1'l'cl:< pl:111tl·cl in tlll' iall !-h11rt ly aitl'r lwing ha1Tc·:-:t 1·cl a11rl 1h11rr11 1(!hh· nir-clril'cl. g'('rt 1J i11:ited th(' r.. 1111\\'ing :-:pri11g . .-\ 11 an·r a.t!l' ,,f 35 i°•1·r ·l"<' lll gcr111i11atic,11 \\'a:- 11hlai1wd fr11111 a '"!al 11f 12.-l~'J s1·1·cl:-. i11d 11di 11J.! 12.:; nd111n·;;: i11cli,·id11a l n11l11n·;; ga,·<· lrr•m ll l 11 12 Jll'I" ('('Ill g1-r111i11ati1111 . . \ 11 a.Jtlit i«nal ,n {II I ;, )>('I' Cl'lll or thcs!' :'('('r\;; g'l' nllill:tlr·d lhl' ,-.c'("lllld ~Tar a rtl' I" lwi11g Jl falll('< J. . . Till' d1 ·la\'l·rl a11cl i1w1111q1ld1· t!l'l'llli11ati1111 11r Ill<' :-(·t·rl I:' :t ,.., ... ,.,,~;; ci l,:-:tal'ic· 111 j,r11g·r<''" i11 iri-. hnTdi11g. I 11 :111 cff11rl 111 i111pr11,·1· IIH' i-:-1'1'111 1- 11ali1111 ,.j tlw ;;,·,·,(. 1111111t·rr,t1:- ,·x1ll'ri 1111 ·11t:-: 11i an 1·xplnr:1l11ry d1ar:1t·1c-r \\TIT 111a rl1·. F ro111 1h1·:-1·, till' 111<•:-I :-11rn·;;,-.f11I 1\ ·:-11lt:- \\Tr,· 11htai11c·rl Ii_,. n ·11111\'i11g- till' 1·111l,r\'n;; fr11111 t 111' :-1Trl and n11l 11ri11g th1·111 1111 ~ll·rik 11t1lril'11I · agar. l·:111' ,iT11:- 11[ fre;;hl\' -han·l':'11-cl a;; \\'di a,; air-dril'rl sn·cl that had ,;l'l'll :;1 ,11T< i at nu,111 l1·1;q,nat11n· f11r ;;cn•ral 11 11111 th :-: l,!lT lll i- 11atl'd \\'i lhi11 a h-\\' day:-: artl'I' l,1·i 11g- tran,-.frrn ·d 11 1\ dl'r a::q1ti1· 1·1111diti1111, fr11lll the· Sl·cd \ c"> the :-lnik n11lri('11I agar, and \\'ithin a fl'\\' \\'C'cks st·cd ling-s \\'ilh \I'd] [11 rdalir111 lo rr,-111111Dll ]>rac!in·:; in gc·rn 1i11ali11 g- iris sccd it 11·as f,nm.J that thnro11ghl_1· air-drit'd S!'l'rl gcrniinalcrl lwtln llian frl'shl_1· harr<'s1r·d sr'l'd 1dw11 pb111t-d 1111dn fic·ld r11n,li1i1111s in s1wri:dly pn·p;1rcrl s<·<·rl Iwds .. \ bu lighl was found 111 ,1 1,, I,.. ai"1 i11 I\ '"rta11t i:tcl11r <·ii lil'r d11ri11g liH ' dr_1·i11g- c,r aft('r-ript·11i11g- Ill tlu· .~1·1•,l. .\ st11,h· "f tilt' ln11gt·1·itY ,,f iris sn·d i11di1·;1tc·d tli:tl air-dril'd :--cTd .-, t, ,r!'d i11 - , ,rel i11;1r_1· St'l'd 1;arkl'l s 1T111ai I wrl 1·ial ,l,· fur J 2 _l'('a rs, a11d st11r;t_!,!\' iror ;tt kasl sc1Tral 1·t·ar.~ k1 J .ITEH ,\TL'l Pat Farmer's Cal-Sibe I \t ca1-sioe ca.roen \'la"es Jt>is ia.ctea. Joan coo-Per 799 • .. CAL-SIBE UPDATE ' Je.an Will Here's another combination of species for the growing list of Cal-Sibe crosses. Brian 0. t-iulligan ·of Kirkland" Washington bloomed a progeny from I. forrestii x I. bract,30,ta in 1979; all were spidery, flaring and golden yellow on stems about 18" tall, resembling in form the pollen parent, and having its somewhat foliage. We were given a plant for further testing and "~nder whether it will form a clump like other Cal-Sibes - or will it creep around loosely like I. bracteata? Another promising guest gets our vote as the most interesting Cal-Sibe seedling yet. Raised by Pat Fanncl' of Tacoma, Washington, this one has a plicata-like pattern reminescent of ENG~\VED, and is certainly different from anything in this class so . far; or for that matter, anything in beardless this side of the J apanese cul tivars •. I haven't heard yet what the exact parentage is, but it came from seed exchange seed. The white falls are veined blue-violet, mostly at the edge, with a faint yellow median l ine. The stand:irc.s are similarl/ edged with veins, but somewhat lighter coloured. Style arms are medium violet with a hairline white edge, and a white stripe do"11 the ridge. The form is flaring and slightly ruffled. (See p. 797). My yellow Cal-Sib~ which bloomed for the first time in 1978 has been registered as GOLDEN WAVES. From a cross of a yellow 40 chromosome Siberian of unknown parent age XI. innominata (lemon shade) , this one has much better form than SUMMERLAND. Clear yellow with only a trace of signal markings, flaring and slightly ruffled, this one conveys some idea of what Cal-Sibes can look like in the futJre. From the ... single bloom· stalk of last year it grew to a huge clump so tight I could hardly. Pl".-Y. it apart for division. It blooms very l ate, around the 1st of July. A yellow flowered variety coinciding with bloom on Japanese irises could be very useful. (See drawing on p. 798). *** Mary Alice Hembree of New J<:::rsey, had an enormous clump of I . milesii which survived her record winter of a few years back. "It never bloomed really heavily, but I liked the dainty flowers." She is mourning its loss to borers. Joan Cooper of St. Paul, Minnesota, says "My pe': of all the species I grow is I. milesii that I grew from seed. Only one lived, but it is far prettier than the only other clone I have ever seen; mine is more flared; it is like a pretty cristata with many blooms on tall branched stems with a long season. Fairly tall at 18" high. Seems to be · perfectly hardy and is deciduous. I have it in shade, but plan to try a piece in sun to see if it blooms heavier there." · · ) . "The U.W. Arboretum's I. milesii clump is in full sun on the southwest corner of the lath-house, and blooms well with minimal care. The rhizomes are bright green. TI1e flowers are about the size of those of I . cristata, but bright pinkish-lavender, and heavily mottled." *** . -~ MISCELLANEOUS: Clipping back foliage on I. un.guioularis is sometimes recommended so that the flowers will show up better. Well, I l earned the hard way; don't do it while the plant is in bloom! I bobb~d ~ack the leaves on one clump while cleaning it out· to ·discourge the slugs from e.at~ng the flowers • . The next . flowers to open were far · 1ess than full size, apparetjt~Y. due' to exce-ssive .loss o~ , · moisture through the cut leaf-ends . My attempts to 1o·cate a ·white-flowered form of I. setosa cana.densis ·~ve failed, so I hope some of our members who are growing the ., white-flowered I. setosd from Japan will try.to cross it with some of the .¥ery dwarf forms from eastern North America. It will take at Jeast two generations ·.to ..: ecover a dwarf white from such a cross and! perhaps 'l<,>nger. *** 800. ROBIN REPOR'l' Joan CoopeJL In the approminately one year since I became SPECIES and NAT IVES ROBIN Chairman, I have hardly set tllG world on fire, but do have three Robins in flight at this ti.me . I think I have nr,de some =· contact with each of you who previously flew in a Robin and those who have more recentl y expressed an interest in doing so. Twenty !i ~;-;·,n of you are flying and three are in a holding pattern waiting for a new bird to take wing. So if you arc interested or have been missed, we are waiting to hear from you. Somehow this has not proven to be as easy as it looks. If you have been over looked once/twice/thrice, be r:.ot dismayed; it's because we are far from perfect and have a lot of other letters and papers in the works too. Remind us again that you want in. No one has been ever left out intentionally. It seems to be a real trial to keep these birds flying. They need nudging on at regular intervals, and then I may also need to be reminded that you have not as yet been included in a Robin Flight. A few excerpts from our Robins may help to interest more of you in joining us: "Friends have begun to bring species they picked up: I . fuZva in Louisiana; I . virginica in Missouri; biglwnis/ensata seedlings; so I can add to the garden. My experience with PCNs: Lorena Reid sent seeds to try; that summer I did find seedlings; they survived this past winter too (1978 -79), so may be blooming PCNs soon. Joe Ghio sent seeds; they germinated quickly and were wintered in their starter pots under oak leaves, sand and 2' of snow. They look vigorous but I'm afraid to trans plant them now (May '79), so wiE carry them in pots until white roots show in the fall. If I can bloom PCNs I know about 30 people here will get into the fun." "The seed exchange has been such a help; those seeds arrive when gardening is a but a memory, or a hope, so I run them through the r efrigerator in starter cartons and then under lights. While the snow pile~ up I grow baby irises; the power bill is a fair price for the added pleasure." Ph.y.e.Li..-6 HaNung.ton., Parsons, Kansas. "I have been in three different houses since the swnmer, followed by two months of vacation in South America. My poor iris, mostly seedlings started with the help of the SPECIES SEED EXCHANGE, have had to wait and wait for a permanent bed. At this moment I don't know how many have survived the overdue transplanting and my absence during a dry spell. " "! have always loved iris, particularly the wild beauties I encountered on hikes on the Pacific coast, but it took an article on I . clwysographes in a hort iculture magazine to introduce me to the prospect of growing species from the world over. I sent for the SEED EXCHANGE l ist and worked backwards to my present member ship in the AIS, Santa Rosa Iris Society, SIGNA and the Society for Pacific Coast Natives. Lotun Le,ah, Santa Rosa, California. HTI1e best scented iris I have grown is Iris graminea . It has a very strong scent similar to ripe nectarines or peaches. It grows about 9" high and has bright cobalt blue flowers, heavily veined ·with white and· yellow in early summer. It has : dark green narrow leaves, near to evergreen here, and makes a tight clump. 11 • , •• "\'lish I could share my success with PCNs; I hav.e only grown seedlings twice and got so many that I will soon have to start selecting the best and give the rest away. I have only flowered~ few, but next season should be the first fo~ about 20Q. 100 _ have colour strains, mixed hybrids and collected in the fields. 801. "I have had a good season with Evansias; I had a 30 stem display from I. x Darjeeling, a little less from I. japonica and about 15 stems from I . wattii; first bloom on I. gracilipes (pale blue and about½" across, so SMALL!) : I . cristata, almost sure its I. Zacustris; and two stems on a weak plant of I. formosana, which is happily getting stronger. A friend in Sydney sent me the rare I . specuZatrix from Hong Kong. It sits and shows a fat green basal shoot which has been the same for four months. TILe.vo//.. Noilf.e.s Stirling, South Australia "Our garden has a frequent stream of young people visiting with us, and with whom we happily share our plants and knowledge. Some have even brought their parents over to look. I've taught some of the kids how to make crosses which they are welcome to do whenev er they are so moved. I leave tags out for them to record their cross, sign thei... · names, and at the end of the season I give them each their seeds." I grow a few TBs just so I won't b0 drummed out of the local society, but my heart lies with the dwarfs, species and natives. \falter Welch, the father of dwarf irises in America, and I wer e working on an experiment to get a more fertile white Iw Cl'.e,t.i,,c.a. ' Crete'. l expect to have sorae seedlings bloom this year which I am excitedly looking forward to. " VIL . V,i/z.g,i,itia. Win.12.le.ll., Deerfield, Illinois. If you would like to Join one of these Round Robin Groups that share so much valuable informaticn and friendship, and sometimes seeds and/or plants, please write to me : Joan Cooper, 212 West County Road C, St. Paul, Minn. 55113, U. S.A. NADA--Houseplant Joa.n. Coa pelt Just about the time winter becomes unbearable in Minnesoat (record nwnber of consecutive days below freezing) and/or (coldest on r ecord for this date) and/or (more snow forecast) etc; a soft white light tells me spring cannot be far away . NADA blooms! NADA is a cross between I. japonica and I . aonfusa~ both tender Evansia (crested) species. At the IRIS SOCIETY OF MINNESOTA auction in July, 1976, NADA was one of the offerings, and high bidder, Dr. W. (Jeff) Jefferson, was happy to report bloom W1der lights in February, 1977 and later in the year shared his treasure. As one of the fortunate friends, I failed to follow Jeff's instructions to re pot, but instead put the r ather crowded pot in my south basement window where it was watered weekly. Suddenly in mid-February, 1978, I realized that NADA had developed t hree bloora stal ks. Brought up to a south kitchen window, it bloomed for almost a full month. In spring (Minnesota style) I divided it into single divisions and set them i n a moderately shady garden bed, shared a few, and before frost in the fall, · rushed as usual, popped the t i..-o r emaining plants into 611 pots, using the garden soil they were growing in. Both pots put up bloom stalks in February, 1979 and bl oomed nearl y one full month. As I \\Tite this, one of those same pots of NADA is in its 33rd day of bloom with two gorgeous f lowers. Earlier in the day there were four as' yeaterday,s flowers overlapped with today's Leaves grow in a broad fan wi t h the l ar gest individual leaves up to two inches wide and 20 inches tall. As they l engthen they drooF, l eaving the 22 inch bloom stalks displaying their flowers well above the leaves. Bloom stalks have five to seven branches, each with at least three flowers, blooming on widely separated days. 802. Very i nfrequently there may be two flowers on one stem opening the same day·. Each flowe:c is at least 2½ inches wide and -standards and fall~ ::i.re on the same plane . Standards are½ inch wide by about 1¼ inches long., opening pure white, taking on a slight ·1ave~der cast as they age . The shape i s unusual with a cat's eared effect at the tip!::. Falls are sl~.ghtly under one inch by 1¼ inch, ruffled and flute1, with a bright yel low-orange crest and yellow-orange dots deep in the throat. Pale l avender .dots develop around the crest as ,the flower ages. The style aros add much interest, are ¼ tu 3/8 inch wide by a bit over ½ inch long, pale l avender and · U!::·elievably fringed at the tips.· ·sach flower lasts approximat el y 28 -30 hours, over lapping with thu next day's blooms. I had planned to seJf-po~linate the flowers, but so far found no pollen. I 1m wondering about the possibilities of. saving pollen from I. cristata., I tectorwn I • .m-Z:-lesii which bloom here in June. I would appr eciate any ·advice on freezing po llen. I had heard that NADA has some ten~ ency to form canes but this is the f irst year i t has done so, the fans now beginning about three inches above the rhizomes. Ano~her difference this year i s the beginning bloom date of January 29th, earlier ~_han previous years, but wi th at least t en more buds to open (total of 46 flowers), three stalks will have bloomed at least a week longer than in previous years. The basement window where NADA comes into bloom is large, sunny and temperature probabl y gets close t o freezing wh~n we have bitter cold outside. A warmer winter than normal may have influenced NADA to bloom earlier this year, and l onger bl oom may be accounted for by the cooler upstairs (bedroom) window that it was moved to. However, some other Minnesotans bloom NADA in a warm apartment with no cold treat ment and> apparently, match me almost to the day on bloom start. · Expl ain if ·you can, but meanwhile, why not try NADA as a houseplant-? · · <: • · :,· .. *********~· MORE FROM A ROBIN : Elaine Hu..lb e.tr.t Region 1 Bulletin, 1976. _- I 11 • 90 • I began to plant more seed in a greater variety of· 'rooks and crannies,· and the relative st:ecess of these nore scattered plantings has led me to sane ten tative oonclusiDns about culture. The Californicae arc not ·necessarily delicate where ,cold, humidity, shade and even poor soil are tho only ·drawbacks, but they do require something extra, which I can only guess at. It must be consistency-of · culture they want, a shel t .:irecl, mulched, well drained position where they· are not . subj ect to sudden swings of t emperature or alternate drought and damp. ·You can mo ve a ihriving ,clump, roots intact, from one good location to another that looks equally good, and l ose the whole thing in 24 hours. On the other hand, small seedhngs with up to four leaves can be moved very easily if the long fragile roots ar·e not too roughly chopped off. It would seem that the period of adaptibility j_;s short·. These iris often signal t heir distress by browning at the tips. This may be because of some element missing in the soil, but I don't think so; I have grown them well i n many different soil mixes. I would guess they simply want sharper drainage. Would a rock garden cul turc suit them best? Maybe so, but perfect drainage usually goes with a certain amount of exposure, and these iris want- shelter above a.11. · I nuw grow most of· -mine among larger, sturdier plants and I let the l eaves collect - around them in the fall and brush the leaves off gradually in the spring. ********** 803 • . IRIS OF THE WASTE.LANDS Vil.. J. SeqLU Tr>ansZated by Francesoa ThooZen May botanists for give me by not calling it by its name of I. ohamaeiris. Bu~ why in heaven was such a beautiful little plant given such a .;dm name . If, at the end of March, beginning of April , you are walking through the waste l ands of Languedoc or the Province (of southerhn France) you will find, there where evergreen oak and the ·Kennes oak (Querous ooooifera) have ceded space, the little . iris or rather, a multitude of ·the little iris. Growing in the soil of the wastelands, the leaves only reach 7-8 cm (2 ·3/4 to 3 1/8 inches) tal l and 1 cm (3/8 inch) wide. Above emerge5aflower, almost monstrous in relation to the plant, of more than 5 cm (2 inches) in diameter, on a stem of about 10 cm (3 7./8 inches) tal), in such a way the flower appears by itself, more volumi,nous than the whole plant. Yellow and purpl e are the dominent colours, but there are aiso whites and blues. The flower in general is unique. TI1ere is nothing particular about the fonn. It is a bearded iris similar to the tall bearded iris. It is quite fer~ile; the bees taking charge. It multiplies abundantly in the wastelands to the point of fanning drifts sev~ral meters square, r eal ground covers, creeping between stones, the rhizomes are the size of a pencil. It is easy to acclimate in the rock garden. I cultivate them in an old cracked earthernware casserole where they bloom· each year. They only require full sun and only rain from heaven, and, of course, a calcareous soil with excellent drainage. If they are slightl y fertilized, then the leaves and stems brighten, the flowering stem can reach 25 cm (9 7/8 inches) and the second flower may appear below the terminal flower , on the same stem. The f~owering season unfortunately does not last long. However, the flowers do not appear all at th~ same time. ,One can, therefore, have bloom for three weeks~ , If they are cultivated in small containers, it i~ sufficient to keep some ·in cooler places on the garden to extend the bloom season. I do not believe these irises are readily available in commerce. Only hybrids seem to exist. I can send some to those who would like to know them, in exchange .1 for postage money to cover their cost in shipping. I cannot unfortunately guarantee their colours. That the ecologists rest assured, their natural habitat will not be destroyed. *** ,· NOTE BY FRANCESCA TBOOLEN: This azitioie was written in the F.I.s. buZZetin, preSW:1- abZy for members of the French Iris Society. It is suggested t'hat ~ Zetter first to Dr. Jean (John) Sequi, o/o Sooiete Francaise des Ir-is et PZantes Bu.7,,beuses, 344 Route de Grasse, 06140 Vence, France, inquiring if French shipping ::rieguZations aZZow sending them; to the United States. He reads and wr>ites simpZe Engl,ish. The President, Mde'. Od.ette Perrier, knows Engiish quite we'll. *** ED: The .problem in obtaining shipnents of ir>is from countries,other than the U.S. ~s not in the oountry of or>igin, but IJJith the U, s. plant inspectors when the shipnent azirive~." A'lZ countries require a phytosan.itary oertificape to accompany an incoming shipment, whioh can be obtained, sometimes u>ith considerable inconvenience, from a p'lan:t; irispeotor in the oount:ry of origin. A very few ~e types may be restricted from export- . • . ; ..*** · 8b4 . J oseph K. Le r:Lzwe.i.lle r, Ba tc~1 Rouge, Louisiana THE CULTURE OF :-aOUISI ANA IRISES (Reprinted from. Region 1? NEWSLETTER, FaU 19?9) I~uch can be written about this, but I will strive to be as brief as possible. Before discussing anything about cult ure I want very much to dispel the belief that· Louisiana irises must . be. grown in water or tmder bog conditions~ For more than 20 years I }).ave gx,own them· upder ordinary garden culture, with excellent results. Of course, if one can provide bog conditions this can be used very effectively, but is not, necessary. The culture is very ea·sy provided the few simple rules outlined below are followed. The cvnditions described are for Louisiana or a location with ·moderate t emperatures. . .·: GENERAv · LOCATION: · Louisiana ir:·_ses should be gi'own in as full sun as. possible, ~t under no circumstamces should·. 'they get l ess t.han half a day· of sunlight-. The irises will not bloom properly in aense or full shade. Also, the i!i ses should not. be grown in competi~ion with large trees or plants with extensiv.e roqt systems that preferenti~lly utilize soil moisture . Two types of garden locations can be considere4. Iris enthusiast s such as myself gener ally gro.w them in ,beds containing only Louisiana irises. There is nothing wrong with .thi.s· method. The int~,nse green colour of the .foliage. during ~he gro"".ing season is most pleasing, particularly dur ing the winter ·when :g:r.een colo.ur is very welcome. During the bloom (mid-March through April in Louisiana) the beds : , become a rainbow of colour .. But ori0 should remember that after blooming the irises go into a rest or porman-~y period during the hot weather. They will lose most of their foliage an~. "iris only" .beds are not a very pleasant ,sight in mid-swnmer. For this r eason many.j•,'.ill w.:nt to gro,\~ them for their· landscape value. This is best achieved by mixing them with (?ther plants. Louisiana irises can be mixed ·with most of the smaller ornamental plants, subject only to the 1 ~ita. t ions of acid soil .and ~ extensive watering during periods of drought during tn'e growi ng season. " COLD WEATHER LOCATIONS: I ~an guarantee that .Louisiana irises will grow well in the southern states, an~ ort the Pacific coast, but. I am not ah expert in growing them in· cold weather areas. I do know that ' they are groi-m with success in the mid-west and in New England. Special care and precautions are necess~ ary for such areas. The main probl em is to achieve a sufficiently long growing ' season so that the irises will bloom in ·e·arly to mid-summer. The irises must not be allowed to 'dry out or go do1?mant_.during periods. when the temperature is sufficently high to permit growt h. A year.:.round mulch is probably a great help in growing them in colder locations. The hybrids hav ing a significant to large amount of the species I, brevicauZis in their background will perform best. Growers and nurserymen can · probably recommend thP- Louisiana .iri~es best suited to. colder locations. ~ouisiana irises are also readi ly adaptah:e to certain. overseas locations. They are grown in; Australia, New ·zealand, South Af rica · and to some extent in southern Europe . SOIL CONDITIONS AND PREPARATION: ,An acid soil is a mus t for Louisiana i rises.~·- They will not perfonn under alkaline soil conditi ons. I recommend a soil pH of at l east 6. 5 and preferably lower. Any soil sui tabl<:i for • azaleas or rhododendrons would be ideal for Louisiana i rises. A soil high. in fertil ity and organic matter is ~lso very desirable . . Suitable organic materials for add ition to the soil include peat moss (spagum moss)., composted leaves or rotted oanure. If the soil has a ·_clay texture, additi on of some sand may help. The beds are prefer ably prepared a few. weeks in advance o-f planting· the irises if they are to be planted in new beds. The soil should be worked, preferably with a power tiller, and the organic material and a generous amount of commercial f ertilizer (8-10 lbs . per 100 square feet of such as 8-8-8) worked in. The newer slow-release fertilizers are being tested and are perfonning well. 805. PLANTING AND DIV IDING : The ideal time to plant and divide Louisiana -irises i s just as they are coming out of their summer dormant period and · starting their growing season. This is mid to late August in southern Louisi ana. New bed pr eparation has been described. If existing beds are to be replanted, all the irises should be dug out, divided and the identity of each maintained . The beds are r eworked , with the addition of organic materials and commercial f ertilizer as des cribed for new beds. The irises should be r eplanted as soon as possible, pr efer ,., . ably the same day. The newly pl anted beds should not be allowed to dry out, but . should be watered every few days until the pl ants are established. -The further ap.art the rhizomes are pla:·.ted, the longer they may be l eft without -dividing. If the plan.ts become too crowde~ they will not bloom properly. I plant fairly close (6- 8 i nches apart) and divide every other year. By plant ing in a triangular format (about 12 inches apart) they can be l eft 3-4 years and will form nice clumps. It must be remembered that as the irises grow in the direction they face, at l east two offsets generally form, one on each side of the rhizome, each year. Some irises are: vigorous and form large rhizomes (6-8 inches of growth) each year and make many offset s . The net result is large clumps ·and consider ab l ~ move- . mentor "walking" from the original planting point. This can cause problems in locat ing markers to identify irises in close planting. It must also be remembered that each rhizome blooms only once; then the offsets bloom the next year. Good gro¼~h and offset formation is therefore nece~sary each season in order to achieve consistent bloom. The offsets ~epresent vegetative r eproduction and are identical in ey~ry respect to the pare;1t rhizome. One can expect at 1 east two non-blooming plants per .bloom season. After the bloom :1as finished, and if seeds are not saved, the old rhizome -can ·be cut away ' f r9m: the hew growth, washed and placed in moist vermiculite in closed pla'st ;ic boxes·: A considerable number of new offsets will. usually form in ··3-6 weeks. As these offsets grJw a .few inches tall and develop some root system, they can be planted in flats (preferably by cutting off a small section of the original rhizome with each one or two offsets and not detaching the offsets) After · · several we0ks' growth in the flats, th~ plants can be set out in the beds, generally at the usual pl?,nting ·o~ dividing time. By using this method one can get much more_ than. the normaL.rate 'Jf increase of the best vari eties. The method can be used after seed pods have matured. WATERING: Watering is often necessary to achieve a sufficient growing season for good bloom. Our growing ~eason totals about seven months. A good rule is that once new growth has qegun the.beds should not be allowed to dry out. Sept ember and October are generally quite .dry in s6uthern Louisiana and it is important to give the iris beJs a through soaking at least once weekly during such dry periods. Wh en the fall rains begin ill: November we can forget about watering. The watering · schedule will have to·oe modified according to the growing area, but the best bloom will, be obtained when the irises are ·not permitte~. to dry out during the growing season. FERTILIZING: Availability of plant food during the growing season is essential to good growth . . Since l arge rhizomes must be formed , Louisiana irises are heavy feeders. For new or replanted heds (to which conunercial fertilizer and organic materials have been added at planting time) ,a light dressing of a complete fertilizer (2-4 lbs. per 100 sq. ft.) is sufficient about ·two months prior to bloom, e.g. in January in Louisiana. Beds whicr have not been replanted in late summer are generally given two appli'cations, a fail application at the start of the growing · season (with good watering in) and then the light dressing just before bloom. I favor use of a complete·. fertilizer such as 8-8- 8 in preference to high nitrogen fertilizers. I have a feeling (not backeq by adequate scientific data) that high nitroge:n fertilizers are too much fertilizer; tend to promote the undesirable fungus disease called rust. 806a Mt;LCHING: I considE'l::::- mulchi ng an essential part of good culture of Louisiana . irises. Mulche~ serve many purposes such as maintaining soil moisture an~.-, keeping weeds UP ~er co~trol. But mulching during the sunnner donnant period ~erves on~. essenti ~.~ .:'11act ion which cannot be met by any other means, except planting t he irises in wster. The rhizomes lie on or very near the surface; the hot st::r.m~r sun on the rhi zo:..:ies (af te;r the foU age has d :.ed back) will cause ci ·condititin knowr~. as nsun--scaid". This cause::; the rhizome to ··alterioate and rot. The tip of : t he rhizome continues to grow but it is almost a certainty that no bloom will be obtained the n~xt year. Thi s is one of. the reason for failure of Louisiana irises to bloom.consistently. The problem is easily solved by applying a mulch. About 2-3 i nches of 1·otted or se.r.~i. -rotted lea,ves or sugar cane bagasse (fibrous remains of the sugar cane after the juice i s squeezed out) are. excellent muiches. As little as one-h~lf to one inch o:f s ) il can also be used if nothing else is 'available. But by all means proe~ct .t he .rhizomes during the dormant period. I favor keeping a mulch on the irises.the -entfre year . This is probably very il:lpor~ant in the colder areas. *** LEO l;1:(:CHL , , ~EiBANON, MISSOURI ~ 1 . Pacific C_oast:' I~ises 'Native Jewel , 'Orchid. Sprite', 'Ojai', 'Agnes James' , ~ 'Native Music', and· Cal-:-Sibe 'Pacific Wa:;es' all bloomed ·this year, as did several dcuglasianas, · incln.ding.' one from Lauries Garden labeled as 'Nourse', which does very well . . In addition i have growing and sometimes blooming, several others which I ·· · cannot n~ ~- as weil as several forr2stii, wilsonii , a bitZZeyana (from Witt) which hasn't. bloomed, and a ch;iysographes which doesn't bloom here, but us·ed to in Illinois. . . ' .. ' , I could write a bock on those PCNs which have not lived here; as a hunch, white, yellows and .reds never seem to. make the riffle. Why?. I've tried 'Touge' three , t::.:nes. 'Claremont. Indian'· twice, ~ Greenbriar Contrast' and 'Lemonade Springs' , 'No N~.:ne'., 'Rippl~. Roc,k! ~n? 'S~n Lo.renzo' at least once., and they just didn't come throvgh, although all seemed to start roots. I used to have 'Susie Knappe' which blpomed ~very year tjntil last wh~n it just up and died. A good many pe~ple k~ow the Ozarks ar~ · not. mountains, b~t many _of them think t hey're someth:ng like the Black Hills or the Smokies. They'er not. They are the Te~ains of a very old p+ateau, much worn down and ridged. My ga~dens span such a ridge; flowers on. the north and vegetables ~n the south. The b~sic soil here just isn't. We have patches .of gravel overlaying hard liinestone or chert (chert was much used by the psag~s;.,.ic:r making: arrowheads) .. · What soils I have were e~t.her brought in o·r, manufactured, ') t~ll. you this to explain one of th~ problems I have in gar_dening. Any animal which digs is drawn, .to ~Y gar.den like preachers are to a free lunch; it is vi:fr:ually the . only. ple.ce wh.ere they can m·ake a dent in the surface •. ' Since my house is surrQunJ ed' by s_t a ~·-a pari l a~d~ we ha.V(; digger·s· in great variety. · They seldom ea~ any plants (crocus, dutchman ' s britches and dogtooth violets don't stand a chance unless enclosed in hardware cloth), but skunks just love to sort through my labels and plants looking. f ooy garde~:ing is re~lly_don~ :~n a series of raised beds, faced. with stone or logs. Stumps are h,<1;uled in1 so' ":he entire area appears as if it were ·natural. It is· ~~~inst 807. thes8 logs , stumps and stones that I ·tuck the labels; still they are much deranged by birds, skunks and groundhogs, to say nothing of grey squirrels. About the time a log facing to a bed gets 11 ripe" a Pileated Woodpecker will discover it and in no time at all knock it to pieces looking for carpenter ants. *** ED: One of Mr. Michl •s p1"oblems in attempt·ing to grow the PCNs is undoubtedly a soil one. ·There seems Zittle doubt he has exceZ'lent drainage but the PCNs also require a somewhat acid soil and U.mestome rocks are anything but acid. Chert is merely a heat hardened type of modified limestone. Keeping animals away boils down to a fencing problem and may not be too sure a solution at that. It would need to be bux>ied at least a foot underground, a couple of feet high and electrified on the top wire to be reasonably effective. Birds can best be handled by stuffed owls, sometimes even the outZir!J of one is enough; and then there are the bangers (if you can stand them)Birds often get w;ed to them in fruit orchards. A simple solution that may uXJrk, at l eat when +hp. Min-J b7.oivs, is to .ha.no:. ...Rh"V'~ nf ol11Jm:11um_ f,rom tree limbs or posts; the r eflections a~6 aau1 to b e quite effective in many oases. Making a major imp1"ovement in the soil structure is possible, but not easy or · cheap. If the rock is only a f ew inohes down it may weU be impractical to add several feet of earth fill to give a good root run and water r etention capacity. I wuld consider cb:>illing into the r ock about 3-4 1 deep and setting two 60% dynamite ~tieks off in each hole. This is enough to frar.ture the r>ook but not scatter> i t aU over the lot. Dirt will even !-ua.Uy sift down into the spaces, giving good deep r oot penetr ation and water re·tent ion. A foot of f;op soil added wilZ oompZete the job and· make for a super garden. I wnder> how many of us would be this ambitious? "'** NUMERICAL STUDIPS OF .,.r.-- ·:pumi la L .• , BY. ..CLUST:t;:R, l\LAYSIS (Review) . . . . . Roy Va.v-i..d6on There is a bewildering amount of literature chronicling various studies of Iris pwniZa and an even more bewildering lot of names given locally abundant populationsr It may not come as a surprise therefore that a recent study casts some doubts as to any r eal and sound basis for such designations. It is nothing more than the old problem, a splitter' s view as opposed to that of a conservative lumper. Acta Botanica Acadarniae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 22 (1976) reports the findings of E. Melko who studied material of I . -pwnila representing its occurrence in 35 loc alities within the Carpathian Region, from the Vienna Basin, the Hungarian Plains, Transylvania and the Ukraine. The Technique of cluster analysis was employed, entail ing 14 sets of precise measurements of v~geta;tive parts and their ratios, arrived at by a complicated series of comparisions. · Two types of analysis were pursued: One, to .determine how the individuals origin ating within a geographicallr large area may form into related groups: and two, .. whether the infraspecific taxa are actually r ecognizabl~. Some 260 herbarium speci mens were studied and from them 100 were selected as being appropriate to the mctho·d. All were "whole" specimens with flowers (lndicating a l ike degree of maturity) sat-, isfactorily preserved (without distortion and in good condition) representative of the designated minor taxa and gathered from a wide area and a great variety of substrate (dolomite, loess, granite, sand and andesite) and of elevation 100-600 m) Included were very old as well as very recent collections. Floral parts did not enter into this particular study. The 14 measurements included floral axis (from the base of · the floral envelope) and leaves. The author concluded the method to be quite applicable to the solutio!l of such taxondmic problems accompying variable species . It was deduced that on the basis of 808. the dbnensions of vegetative parts and the comparative ratios derived from' them, Iris pwniZa ol the Carpathian Basin canno1: be classified into ·homogeneous groups, either geographically or by current taxonomic systems. This must be deci ded by further examinatio~ of the dimension of floral parts or by other means, it is stated. *** B.IoSo SPECIES GROUP KEY TO ThE SECTIONS OF THE GENUS IRIS (Plants bulbous A ( Plants non-bulbous C (Bulb with fleshy persistent roots JUNO ( 27) A ( Bulb without persistent roots B . (Bulb with smooth outer coat XIPHI UM (25) B (Bulb with shaggy netted coat RETICULATA ( 26 ) (Rootstalk, a corm with shaggy netted coat GYNANDRIRIS (28) C (Rootstalk, not a corm D (Rootstalk, a tuber, curiously finger-like ~~th D ( no coat; square section leaves HERMODACTYLUS ( 29) (Rootstalk rhizomatous E (Rhizome, a minute flattened growing point NEPALENSIS ( 23 ) E (Rhizome, . distinct,. horizontal F (Falls, crested EVANSIA ( 5) F (Falls, not crested· · .... .' .. G (Falls, with a beard H ('Falls, b~ardless K (Seeds without an aril POGONIRIS (1) H· (Seeds with an aril I (Aril minute, flmreFs appearing when·· legves ( are quite short PSEUDOREGELIA (J) I (.A:ril l~rge, flowers appearing when leaves ( · are we~_l developed J (Flowers, one per stem ONCOCYCLUS (4) J (Flowers, one or more per s;~em REGELIA (2) (Seeds, conspicuously winged· PARDANTHOPSIS ( 24 ) K (Seeds, not winged · L (Seeds, scarlet, remaining attached to the capsule FOETIDISS~MA (22) L (Seeds, not remaining attached to the caps\J.le M . (Capsule, hexagonal in cross- section N M (Capsule, trigonal in cross- section R ;. , . 809. ( CapsulE:, with double ribs at angles · SPURIAE ( 21 ) N (Capsule, with single ribs at angles 0 (Rhizomes, slender, spreading by long 0 ( under -ground stolons PRISMATI CAE ( 8 ) (Rhizomes, without stolons p p (Flowers set in axils of leaves HEXAGONAE ( 12) (Flowers not set in axils· of. leaves Q (Capsule, a shor~ tube almost spherical in section ENSATAE ( 16) Q ( Capsule, ·with broad section at centre, tapered at ( ends LONGIPETALAE (13) (Seeds with an aril s R ( Seeds without an aril T (Seeds:l!ith white e}crescence when fresh;; dwarf s ( grass growth RUTHENICAE ( 20 ) (Seeds without white eJKcrescence; rhizomes slender ( with habit of pogoniris VERNAE (15) (perianth tube long; falls narrowing abruptly into ( haft UNGUICULARIS (19) T (Perianth tube short; falls narrovri.ng gradually ( into haft u u (Stigma, a projecting triangular tongue V (Stigma, not a projecting triangulat tongue w (Rhizome, slender, reddish CALIFORNICAE ( 9 ) V (Rhizome, stout, brown SIBIRICAE ( 6 ) CHRYSOGRAPHES .(7) w (Rhizomes annulate, vrith·stiff bristles SYRIACAE (18-) (Rhizome not annulate X (R.~izome, slender, wide creeping CHINENSIS ( 11 ) X (Rhizome not slender y y (St andards reduced ~o mere bristles TRIPETALAE (14) (Standards not r educed to mere bristles z (Seeds, more or l~ss D- shaped, with Pol ished skins LAEVIGATAE ( 10) z (Seeds, cubical, with coarsely wrinkled skins TENUIFOLIAE (17) ED: Reprinted from the December 19?9 BuUetin of the British Iris Society SPECIES , GROUP. The meaning of the numbers after the series names is not explained. This is one of the olea:r>est keys I have come acr~ss and wul d be excellent i f aooomp iied by drawings showing the key features of identification and how they differ from each other. Some are obvious but many are too eimiliar in description or too vague and a dx>awing wuld be the solution to the probZem. Something to keep in mind for . a future SIGNA article., 'but it does not sound too easy to accomplish. Have we any experts avaiZabZe for the task? B.R. '**'* NOTE: Two copies of this sheet will be sent to eaoh member so one can be kept loose and sepa:r>ate from your SIGNA file for convenience in use. 8100 QUESTIONS Q. I have occasionally read of the floral parts of irises as weJl as other plants ( sue!·. as magnolias) referred to as tepals. Wren does this apply? A. the word came into use in connection with those flowers whose sepals and petals are so alike they are not readily distinguisl ableone from the other sort, un1e·ss you know what position they occupied on the flower. It is most ordinarily used in descriptions of such primitive flowers as magnolias, which perhaps is the classic example. However, we know that in jrises there has been a considerable advance fro!Il the primitive condition, so that the outer trio (sepals or falls) are quite different from the inner ones ( petals or standards). But occasionally we find what may be · termed the "throwbacks). These are well lmown in so-called "double11 flowers of the garden cultivars of the Japanese Hana Shobu, in the similarly developed flat tall bearded 1 Japane1=que 1 and 'Giant Clematis ' , and in certain others. It is a normal condition in I . fuZva and I. neZsonfi~ whose flat flowers seldom have arched, erect standards, but it does not correctiy apply to such true doubles as have an abnormal, extra number of parts, such as I. graaiZipes 'Blue Rose', the multi-tepaled I. pseudaaorus 'Flore Plena' or the TB 'Double Eagle' which has several sets of standards layered one above the other, and occasi)nal extra falls. Neither does it correctly' apply to the frequent tag-end-of-the-season four-parted flowers on many irises. Q. Why is it that no · matter how I try I do not get any seed on I. japonica? A. We quote from Mar Jorie Brough in the bulletin of the Alpine Garden Society (Eng. ) 36,1 p.41, March 1968; Mrs. Brough lived in Japan for several years and exien. sively studied the plants. She wrote: "When I saw it for the first time, in tens of thousands, I noticed the complete absence of seed pods, and later I read in Ma.kino'~ ILLUSTRATED FLORA OF JAPAN (1925) that although the ovaries contain ovules, these dp not ripen and hence no seeds are found, while Ohwi, FLORA OF JAPAN (Eng. trans. 196!5) writes 'fruit very rarely maturing'"· This is accountable in that Tomim -reporte·d all 'tbe plants of I . ja-ponica in Japan to be the sterile triploid introduced centuries ago into shrine gardens ~rom the Asiatic Mainland, either China or Korea, quite incapable ··ot seed p:rod~ction in the Mrma.1 manner .• .. We migh:t speculate on several related matters, · Are there diploid forms anywhere that do produce seed normally? Or is this function lost to the species ( assuming it is a species) so that its perpetuation ~p natur~ is dependant solely ;. on asexual means, increase by the long stolons? We might also wonder at the origin of the supposedly distinct forms (clones) known as 'Uwodu' and 'Ledger' . The latter was brought to England from cultivation in Tokyo, and the former was introduced to horticulture by Berry of California from an unrecorded source. \ ~. .• And while we're speculating, how exactly does one distinguish the Taiwan I. formosana from I. ja[XJnica? Remembering that the Japanese occupied Taiwan between 1895 and 1945, and reflecting that they certainly must have brought familiar plants with them, is it not possible that this might have been among them? There are many things we don't know about this iris and its mainland relatives, the two infrequent taller species I. wattii and I. aonfusa, both of which have given hybrids, occasion ally fertile ones, when crossed to I. ja-ponica. **-******** 811. EXPERI.tv.LENTING WITH IRIS UNGVICVLARIS ChaJ!leA Be.dlw ck. Reprinted from the British Ir-is Society Year Book 1962 The correct nane for this iris is, of course, I . unguicuZaris, although it invariably appears in the catalogues of Nurserymen as Iris styZosa and, indeed is generally known by this name. Some ei~l.t yer>.rs ago I began to work on this plant with a view to raising stock which would be more hardy than the plants at present in cultivation, at the same time hoping to raise plsnts that would be more floriferous and in a greater range of colour. I started by crossing a very good white form, which I had in my garden and which originally came from Wisley, with a form known as I. cretensis. This has a very dark purple flower and grass like foliage. I also crossed a form known as I. speciosa (lavender) with another of my whites which had particularly large flowers with a~ area of gold on the falls . From .this first cross there resulted about thirty seedlings which with one exception had lavender flowers of varying shades plus a few muddy white forms . The one except:f.on was, however, a plant with a flower which was distinctly pink in colo~r. This flower I back-crossed on to the original pollen parent and from this I raised about eleven seedlings all of which had pink f lowers of varying shades . I selected two of the best forms showing the brightest pinks to continue to work on. I am hoping to flower sufficient plants this coming winter to enable me to put some of these pink for ms before the Joint Iris Committee. Fortunately I took one or two colour slides of these pinks so that I might have a record of them just in case they should decide not to flower again. Raising this iris from s eed is not an easy matter as I have not so far been able to flower them under three years and some of the plants have indeed taken four years to bloom. When the seedlings have not flowered by this time I have thrown them out, realizing that plants which did not flower after four years growth would take up too much valuable space in any garden and would probably give little or no flower in any case. Mrs . Anley in writing ~bout I . unguicuZarie has stated that transplanted plants needed copious watering unt.il they are well established. 'This cer tainly applies to the young seedlings, which need to be kept moving, at l east for the first year of the~. r lives. Last year I took up a small piece of the form known as I. speciosa and placed the root in water. Almost immediately it began to send out f l eshy roots, so I decided to l eave it in the water container to see how it would fare. By the end of February it opened its first flower . Thereafter it continued to throw up the odd bloom until the middle of march. The plant is still continuing to grow in a cold greenhouse in the same container, which I keep topped up with water of even temperature. EV: Vyk.eti givu I. cretensis ~ a. .6ynonym 601!. I . unguiauZaris va.Jc.. Za.zica. He. mo g-i.vu I. ai>e·tica a..nd I. cretensis (amof18 otheM ) a..6 1.>ynonm1.> 6otr.. I . unguicuZaris. Foll. .6ome. tjea/L6 1 have. gJWwn a. plant heJLe undeJL .the. name. I . cretioa and U ..i.-6 no:t a. bU .Ulie. I. unguicuZaris, be,ing the .6mafi. t:.ype. duCll--lbe.d by G. P. Bak.eA on page ,i.n :the. aJt:t..,lc1_e_ u:te.e.d I. cretensis. Gl., o DLSChIPTIONS~ I. dykesii & I . phragmitetorum Reprinted from lLf\.RDY BULB.S by ·charles- hervey Grey (E.P. Dutton & Co . Inc. 193~) • .,_. dykesii Sta1-f l S.33 A i:, l ant of unknown or1g1!1. The rootstalk is a f airly stout rhizome, the l eav~s ::;e-ven, linear;· :i.one-acu:-dnate, erect, many-nerved, glaucous dark green and r eddish c.t the base, a:bc:ut 30 in~hes l ong, the stem erect, t er~te, unbranched, usually two..:· :;:-10·,1er ed; the spathes obliqi:..: l y lanc.~_nlate , long-acwninate, dull dark green, reddish Furple at t _}_le bas0 :ind margins, ui:, to six inches long, the inner slightly shorter; . the flowers large, eT~ct at f irst, entirely pendulous within 24 hours of development; the tube slender, cream,...;,,1iite , over an i nch long; the falls very large , s trongly . deflexed·, the blade ~11.ip·cic, obt :ise, mar ginally. undulate, brilliant violet, with a r.:eclian r 1y feather ed yellow and whit'e, about two inches long , the haft oblong-11.near, canaliculate, with a gol c!en median ray, transversally striped violet and mauve on tL, l ower surface, nearly· 1½ inches in l ength; the standards erect, narrowly oblan ceol atE:, sub-acute, seep violet, two inches long, the styles broadly linear, arcul~te, deep purple, shorter than the s tandards, the crests fairly large, bifii, crenulate, purple; the stamens barely .as long as the haft of th~ f~lls; the filaments subulate, ,-1hitish, 2/5 of an inch long; the ant hers t)urplish, and inch long; the capsules oblong , triquetroi:.s , nearly 3 i nches in !. €:ngth; ·the seeds la1;ge, slightly flattene4, pa:;.e _br-O\\'ll~ It flowers tow~d the end of July (j.n Britain) and requires conditi~ns that suit I. ·chrysographe;;. I t was raised by Mr. Dykes and f lowered in Mr. Charle~ M:.;.sgrc,ve 1 $ 'iia-r·den ·· near .Gooal.ndng ir. 1926; It appears to me possible that it might be .a hybrid of I ah:r>ysog1.•aphes X I •. orienta"lis, al though Dr. Stapf nor apparently ; fiir . Dy,<:e·s ,f?_ver ·made any suggestion .to that effect. In any case, it is a very ;hand, ::0:w garden plant~ and ::;ets fertile seed. ,. phragmitetorum Handel°..:.fviazzetti 1925 ..•, Collected by Dr. HancJel-Maz.zetd. in Yunnan on the shores of Lake 'Kunyanga. The .. . ~:.~_ ...... ,;.. ..1..s a stout c:reeping rhizome; the basal leaves seyeral, linear, long- ,_ ::ufo::..nate , many-rierved ,· grey-green, up to 24 inches long; the ·stem hollow, one; or t;;o--flo·.-iered, :r2.ther shortc;:r: than: the l eaves, with one or two narrowly linear, am~}lexicaul cauline leaves near 'the base·; the spathe-valves ovate-lanceolate, scarious, P~:!l_il,J.os<;, · 6°bscurei.y striate , whitish, tlte outer valve. nearly 3 inches long; the :flowe~s la':::-ge , :;hortly .p0dicellate, deep _b lue; ·the tube funnel-shaped above, ha~£ an inch long; the falls slightly declinate, · the hafts over an inch in lengtl1; the blade obcvate, apically rounded, ema~ginate, with a white median ray, up to two inches .l ,.. :"ig: the standards er ect, :>µ,long-linear, about 2 inches in l ength; the styles . · : ~!.z bifid, undulate and denticulate ·on the outer margin, ·nearly as long as. the s tandards, the crest~ ov~te; th~ anthers well over an inch long. It flo~ers in April-May (in the wil.d) . This fine ylant does not appear to have been established in ct.l tivation~ Dr-· Handel-i1Iazzetti suggests . it is close akin to I . claz>kei, a plant by no means -tractable i n British gardens , and its habitat is too f ar south tq !-msure complete ha.;; dine,ss. EV: Thi.½c. .two de.1.>·CJUpt.io~ 0-6 S.lb'eJUiJ.n·' , . : '. ':: 8130 LETTERS Samuel No Norris, RoRo #2, Owensboro, KY 42301 fviy ~lants of Pardancanda have just a.bout played out on me. The last few years I've been working with plants whose chromcsomes I have doubled in hopes they would have better fertility. Instead of becoming more fertile with each generation, they have become nearly sterile. They also seem to lose fertility when they are selected for variation from the parent plants. In order to get out of this blind alley it looks like I will have t o practically start all over again with them. (Mar . 11,1979) E; rnest G.Bo Luscombe 1 Hill House; Roselilary Lane, Colyton EX 13 6 JR Devon, England. Regarding SIGNA 23, which I received recently, and persued with much interest, may I offer my observations on particular items? p. 746, second paragraph, Ii. albertii and variegata are not "species apogons". The word "Apogon" means lacking a beard, but both of these irises are of the bearded kind, and are classified under Section Pogiris, Sub-secti on Pogoniris, Series Elatae (Dr. G.H.M. Laurenc e ' s Reclassification 1953) . As to the last paragraph of Mr. LeRoy Davidson's contribution, a fully informative article was published in SIGNA pp. 340-342 J_une 1974 prepared by Dr. Homer N, Medcalf entitled "Hummingbirds as Iris Pollinators", and in a footnote he provides suggestions as to works by other authors for further study. Therein, Dr. Medcalf particularly draws attention to the operation of this kind of ·pollination as applicable to Iris fuZva Ker-Gawl. _Under the heading "Questions Please" Mr. LeRoy Davidson's exposition concerning Iris songarica Schrenk is excellent, but I here venture to supplfment this with an indication of the precise reasons why botanists have classified this species as a ~ember of the Apogon Series Tenuifoliae and thus removed it from Series Spuriae. Most probably the reason why I . songarica was classified by the older authorities as a member of the Spuri a group was the superficial resemblence of the flower to that: of I. spuria L., the hafts of the sepals (fall segments of the perianth) being sub horizontal and decidedly longer than the short blades; and on account of the two toothed stig1na. However, there are clearly more significant botanical character istic-? of this plant which link it with Series Tenuifoliae. The reproductive unit fs a vital element in the assignment of species into taxonomic groups, and the capsule· of I. songarica is oblong and rounded in cr oss-section or with three obscurely marked angl es, and the seeds are of the nonnal type, cylindrical in form, dark brown, with the testa \\Tinkled. In Series Spuriae there are two raised ridges flanking each of the three prominent angles of the caps_ules, and each of the seeds is enclosed in a translucent loose envelope. In I. songariaa the upper surface of the slender rhizome is covered with a coping of the dense, brown fibrous remains of old leaves which ag,J.in agrees with the Tenuifoliae, and a peculiarity in the ca~e of I. songarica is that ' these coarse fibres are set diagonally and are iitercrossing, seemingly spirally · twisted into knots. In I. songarica the perianth-tube is is very short and distinctly f unnel-fonn. -The style-crests of I . songarica are linear, elongated (2.5 cm long) . and cross over each otner, whereas the crests in Series Spuriae are short, broadly ', deltoid and divergent. The leaves of I. songarica are long and very slender, but prominently ribbed. In Series Spuriae the flowers are more or l ess uniform in co lour, whereas in I . songarica the colour-pattern on the falls is of minute dots and larger purple spots on a pale bluish ground, the standards also are blotched and veined purple on a pale viol et or whitish ground. I. songarica was originally collected and described by Schrenk from the .vicinity of Lake Balkhash in Soviet Central Asia, and is found in other parts of that considerable region, but the species is very widely dispersed also in Afghanistan and Iran, and has been also reported from Tt1:-k:i.sh Armenia, Kurdistan, Baluchistf:m.1 .·Dzungaria, Tibet, north-western China and ;·'i;)ngolia. The plant is a zerophile or nearly so, being fcund in .the driest semi ..i.0} s 0::·t places in Iran's high, dry, semi-arid plains, or on slopes of hills, or low \ 0.:-d~ elsr::'lhere, with sandy-soil. In cultivation over-watering is very detrimental, .::·.d c:m be fatal. Wi.th regard to the STIJDY MANUAL, p. ·rs concluding with a description of I. f ::: etidiss-!,mo., here in the south-west of England this iris grows as a wild plant a~htcst everywhere, and is not noticeably impaired by summer drought nor by winter -:.:wsts or blizzard weathe_r._ · .As compared with other non-bea:. ed species (Section ·np~th.u\a) the flower ha:s on~. unusual if not unique feature, which is that the hafts o.f the sepals (falls) are set with prominent wings very similar to those in some of t he bulbous Junos such as I . persica L • .:, · I. hymenospatha Mathew & \'Jendelbo a_nd I. pZanifolia Ascherson. · As to your o~ note a.t the bottom . of p-~ · 718; in Wm. R. Dykes' work "A Handbook of Garden Irises" 1924, p. 155, occurs the comments "the earliest known represent"'. ation of Irises occurs on an Egypti~n bas relief of Thotmes III ·which must dat~ 11 from about 1500B. G. . ,., •• "among those plants represented on the relief are obviously t'·:o oncocyclu_s Irises". Nov. 21, 1979 : :,:,. Samuel Fo Sipe, :l\inneagh; The Curragh1 Coo Kildane, Erie The members of AIS-:liave been extremely generous in sending seeds to me in :;:.,:elar~d .in response to the notice published in the Journal. The five-month postal strike caused a little confusion. Lowevcr, I did receive a large number of seeds a~d appreciate the generosity of the donors. One item might prove of interest -to other iris grow~rs. In early fall we were ':-lit with leaf spot which rampag_e4 through all the Tbs almost overnight. It was an .- 2-::duou~ task . to remove ail the in£,ected· leave·s as it starts as a pinpoint. We then: so~ked · the rema:i.ning · ieaves and the rhizomes with . Benlate. This seemed to slow up ' the rate of reinfestation·. Finally the pathologist of the Irish Mifi.istry of Agri culture discovered that l~af spot ·is similar ·to potato blight' and the Irish know about that too well. We then sprayed with. Dithane. This. is not· ~:: cure but a preventive.; 'i'he resul~s of our spraying we:i;-e excellent: We ·.intend to continue regular sprayings 1,,ith this compound. Also this winter we will soak all the"ground (grass etc. - every ".:hing) in the infected areas with captan in hopes of killing the spores. The Irish; r:?.dio broadcasts a ::;otice to farmers when it is time to spray their potatoes. Any . TBs that are F.oved will be soaked in Benlate at room temperature for an hour or so. The pathologist thought that this might do the job. l~one of the species iris were bothered by the leaf spot. The only other problems we have had in Ireland with the iris is a '\7ery occasional attack of rhizome rot where there was insufficient drainage and some slugs which are easily controlled by Draza. You will be intereste9 tc know that soon there should be a few other iris grc'.-'lers in Ireland. As our TBs start to bloom and are seen I am sure that interest will increase. Nov. 21, 1979 ********** BD: Zineb is the trcde name for DitJui.ne Z-78 whioh has b~~n the recommended fungi- · aide for leaf spvt for .many years. The are also two ·_other f<1rms of Ditha.ne being Ditht;t.ne M-22 (Ma'Yf,e,b) and Dithane M-45 (Uanoozeb). litai1wd from the <'Xrisecl 1·1111,ryns. \"nm· oi th<·sc· JS s1·c·rlli11gs shn\\' any c·,·idc·11cc· of f1n11Tri11g. and hc·1·a11:-c· oi their ,:111all sizl' u11do11lttl'dh· ll'ill not 1111\\'er until ll<'X l ,·c·nr. Thi,- <·xpl'ri11H·111 ,i,·111< 111 stral<·d that l'X('ist·d i·n1 hr\'11:,; llf fn·:-hh· harn·., tl'd :- lll ~n·d in thl' 11~11:d 111:11111('1' (11 l'\';ll'il the nJJ\\'t'I'· i11g slat<·. this ll'rlmir shoulrl ht· 11 i i:rn·at ,·ahll' t11 l'