•••••OCTOBER · 19 7 4- Number 14 THE SPECIES IRIS STUDY GROUP OF THE AMERICAN IRIS SOCIETY Jean Witt, of Seattle, is the Director of the AIS Species Seed Exchange. he also is an expert at doing ink-line botanic illustrations. Her seed exchange list for 1974 will be exten ive - but it will NOT offer eeds of the pecies which she has drawn for this cover of SIGNA. Seeds of Iris afghanica, of tpe Regelia Section, are not yet available - because Iris afghanico is a newly discovered and newly described species. More details are on page 367. THE SPECIES IRIS STUDY GROUP of_ TH E AMERICAN IRIS SOCIETY OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY Chairman- - - - - - - Roy Davidson- - - 911 Western Avenue,,_ Number 200 Seattle, Washington !:18104 phone 206-746- 2156 Secretary-Treasurer - - - Homer Metcalf - - Montana State Universi~i College of Agriculture BoLeman Montana 597 5 phone 46 6-586-5624 Librarian - - - - - - Jerry Flintoff- 5608 North 18th Street Tacoma, Washi:1gton 98406 Seed Exchange Director­ Jean Witt - 16516 25th, N.E. Seattle, Washington 98155 Species Robins Director- Lorena Reid 17225 McKenzie Highwa'i, Route 2 Springfield, Oregon 97477 Editor of SIGNA - - - Bill Gunther 740 Crest Road Del Ma.c, California 92014 phone , 14-755- 2798 Editor of Study Manual Roy Davidson- - 911 Western Avenue,,_ Number 200 Seattle, Washington !:18104 • • • • • • • • • • • SIGNA - - - Number 14 OCTOBER 1974 TABLE OF CONTENTS Cover--lris afghanica · Jean Witt - · · · 353 Notes on SIGNA 13 · - Roy Davidson - - · 355 It is a Gift! - - - - - Bill Gunther · · · 356 The Genus Iris: a review - - - - - - - P.J. Chittenden - - 357 Spuria Species as Garden Plants - E. Luscombe - - - 358 Species Notes on the BIS Show Roy Davidson - · 360 Californicae in Connecticut E.P. Hulbert · - - - 362 Tris winogrado wii - - - - - - - - - - - A. Evans - - - - - - - - 363 Projects Within Iris Species - - - - - - - - - - Roy Davidson - - 364 Iris kerneriana - - - - - - - - E. Luscombe - - -365 Seed Dispersal & Species Distribution - - - Roy Davidson - 366 New Iris Species Jean Witt - - - - 367 LOOK 3 TIMES Bill Gunther - - - · 368 The Series Unguiculares · · · · · B.I.S. Species Group - - 370 Wild I rises - - - - - · - Edson C. Harris - - 372 Our Members Write · - - Ann Branstetter - - - 373 Some Irises are Disease Carriers Gideon Schutz - · 374 Iris versicolor "gigas" · · · · · · · - Bee Warburton - - 376 Iris mellita - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Fritz Kohlein - - 377 Irises From Palestine Herb E. Wulle - 378 Species in British Gardens Roy Davidson - · 380 1975 National Convention Gardens - Lerton Hooker - - - 382 Iris 1111guicularis · - · · · · • · · · · · · David Herrick - - - 384 -354- NOTES ON SIGNA 13 Roy Davidson What a lot of food for thought--and fuel for the fire--in Signa No. 13! Even as we are immersed in the matter of name changes, of reasons for t hem, and the decisions of accepting or rejecting them, as well as the precise meaning of the word IR IS in our society's name, still another of the species familiar and beloved to us as an Iris has gone to the other side. With a proposal of a genus Sipltonostylis,l. unguicularis and allied fo rms, or varieties or related species (depending on your viewpoint) are taken from us to become non-iris, but only if we allow it. There seems room for some agreement in the wisdom of Dr. Rodionenko (p.325) to the quandary expressed in the New Zealand editorial (p. 336) and t he uncertainties that rankle Dr. Wister (p.337). Though it is far from clear at this point, it seems quite possible that the world's horticultural societies, such as our own AIS, will act to formally define their scopes of sponsoring interest rather better than has been done in the past, and in such a manner as to allow for future opinion. Our own attitude has been quite si milar to that of Rodionenko, and we have so stated it: for botanical purposes--let the taxonomists do as they will, since their concern is with the past of the plants, with their affinities and differences that relate or separate them; whereas our own interest lies in their future as we grow and enjoy their presence. However we firmly believe that insofar as is possible the nomenclature of horticulture and botany should be in parallel agreement. We have never maintained an attitude of blanket acceptance of the name changes as the "new truth", as quite a number of them are in actuality old ideas being recycled. We feel these changes, no matter how they may annoy us, should not be resented; if we simply disregard those that are not acceptable for some very good reason, they will not find the recognition necessary for acceptance. A case in point here is perhaps best illustrated by the proposed Iris hybrida, intended to be a handy encom­ passing epithet for all the bearded iris of gardens, and certainly a name that will fall by the wayside through neglect, if we only let it. Nevertheless, as it was legitimately published in the prescribed manner, it w ill be with us forever, if only as a nuisance. In a different vein but equally important is the matter of correcting old errors of identification of our plants. Horticulture should indeed have a say in such matters and it might well be that a unified statement of world horticultural opinion could convince t he International Botanical Congress that here is one instance where a species name should be considered for the act of conservation, which constitutes the granting of an exception fo the priority rule. As it now stands, no name beneath the rank of genus is deemed eligible for such an action. In the meantime, accepted ways for expressing such confused names have been brought to use, and the "double identity" is quite self-explanatory, stating the correct name, followed by the synonym in paren­ theses. In this case they would thus become Iris ensata (kaempferi), and Iris biglumis (ensata), telling which are the proper and which the supplanted names. This is the accepted way; one t hat involves little extra trouble for the clarity ga ined. It is quite true that we the horticulturists and gardeners are t he ones who stand to be most inconvenienced by this particularly unfortunate correction; therefore let us go about solving it in an intelligent manner. As to the rather alarming rate at which irises are b~ ing taken from us, however, we must urge that our societies take a stand on what constitutes an "Iris". Not only are all the bulbs gone, now t he beardless rhizomatous ranks are being decimated; we've lost/. sisyri11chi11m to Gy11a11driris. I. dichotoma to Pardan­ thopsis, and /. 1111g11ic11laris and its allies to Sipho11ostylis. Like Russian roulette, "Want to guess who goes next?" (We'll wager the Evansias.) - 355- i-r i~ A I I II GifT ! \ \\I., ... Bill Gunther Thelma Carrington, Rosemarie Pasahow, Ed Pasahow, and Betty Cooper have happy expressions as they admire a copy of the very valuable and very famous book THE GENUS IRIS, by William R. D,tkes. Other members of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Iris Society are equally happy. They all are happy because that book now is the property of their society. The reference work was given to the San Diego-Imperial Counties Iris Society by a donor who for the time being prefers to remain anonymous. As soon as appropriate security and insurance arrangements are com­ pleted, the book will be available, under prescribed conditions, for reference study at the Casa Del Prado, in Balboa Park. Tentative plans are that it will be moved to the Royal Inn at 1975 Convention time so that it can be viewed by all convention visitors. The photographs below are very greatly reduced in size, and they are in black and white rather than in full color, but nonetheless they indicate the quality of the many illustrations in the Dykes work. Even more revealing is the evaluation by the Royal Horticultural Society which was printed soon after THE GENUS IRIS was published, that evaluation is reprinted on the next page of th is Newsletter. The San Diego-Imperial Counties Iris Society quite likely is the only iris society in the USA which owns a copy of Dykes' THE GENUS IRIS. The members of that society have real reason to be happy, and proud, and appreciative. ' .~ ,.. I. lae1•iga 1a I. 1·ersicolor I. f11ll'a I. gra111i11ea I. u/ata I. lmchar/ca -. -I. ger111011ico 011cocyc/11s I. 1ec1om111 I. ochrole11ca I. diclloioma I. re 1ic11/010, I. cris1a1a /, rosc11hochia11a I. sc ro ra Iris sin tenisii Iris spurio Iris sibirica lrix urien tali.1· -356- THE GENUS IRIS: a review• extracted from the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society, v.39, August I 913. " The Genus Iris" By W.R. Dykes. Fol.,245 pp.,48 colored plates (University Press, Cambridge.) P. J. Chittenden T his monograph has been looked forward to for some time, and expectation will not be disappointed. The book is indeed a happy combination of scientific investigation and practical information. The author has proceeded on the very rational assumption that the best way to know the genus is to grow it. Hence, though he has made the fullest possible use of all available herbarium material, he has, whenever feasible, verified everything by observation of the actual life of the plants. To this end he has himself formed a truly remarkable collection, and it is a striking fact that all the plates, save one, were drawn from plants flowered in the open in the author's own garden. The gardener will find clear and careful suggestions in the chapter on Cultivation, in the sections at the end of the book on hybridizing and on growing from seed, and at the end of the description of each species. Certain time-honored heresies about irises die hard, but it is to be hoped that they are moribund and that Mr.