Showing posts with label species cross. Show all posts
Showing posts with label species cross. Show all posts

Sunday, December 11, 2022

How to Create a New Iris

by Bob Pries

It is the holiday season and I am wrapping up one last iris gift. This one is very special for me because it was more than 30 years in the making. It comprises a passion for iris that has persisted all that time. Now that I am putting my garden to bed for the winter it seems a perfect time to bring out my dreams of what might happen in the future and reflect on the past.

 

I am talking about a webinar I am about to give for the American Iris Society on December 14. Members probably have already received the announcement in “News & Notes” but it is never too late to join.  Of course, if you are not passionate about irises this will be no better than another fruitcake. But hopefully, I can inspire one person to make an unusual cross.

Thirty years ago I chaired the committee that proposed the classification Spec-X for iris species crosses. Looking back, that proposal has turned into a remarkable success. While inquisitive hybridizers have always tried such experimental crosses, the awards system can now reward their efforts with deserved recognition. Today interspecies irises can earn the Randolph-Perry Medal, which is named in honor of Dr. L. F. Randolph (1894-1980) and Amos Perry (1871-1953). 

Preparing the webinar was like visiting all my iris heroes. There were many who have gone where no one went before. Acknowledging all those who have sent garden irises down new paths would be impossible. Hopefully, I won’t overwhelm my audience with too much information but have some tricks involving the Iris Encyclopedia that may help me cover everything.

My study of hybridizing has unearthed some “secrets” that every beginner should know. And in some ways, the webinar may be a primer for the new hybridizer. My title for the presentation is ‘How to Create a New Iris’. By "new" I mean truly new. Something that hasn’t existed before! My cover slide at the top of this blog shows a species I grew and flowered many years ago, Iris timofejewii. Notice the unique architectural carriage of its standards and falls that is also reflected in its leaves. To me, this is a classic work of art.

Species iris Iris timofejewii
photo by Bob Pries

Even if you are not interested in hybridizing you may enjoy seeing some of the more unusual forms/shapes/colors that are possible in the genus Iris.  I like to think out of the box and hope to show many perspectives that are not commonly recognized.  Here are a few exciting progeny from species crosses.


Species iris hybrid 'Roy Davidson'
photo by Lorena Reid


Species iris 'Mysterious Monique' 
photo by Ensata Gardens

Species iris 'Starry Bohdi'
photo by Wenji Xu

Species iris cross 'Nada'
photo by Paul Black

Monday, February 7, 2022

The Iris X-Files

by Bob Pries

Botanical names for hybrid irises are written Iris x species. They have more in common with the TV program X-Files than just the X. The television series dealt with FBI agent Molder investigating files that the department did not wish to touch, because they contained paranormal phenomena that could destroy the reputations of serious investigators. The botanical “X-files” have the same danger. In this regard it probably puts my credibility at risk to discuss my collection of “X-files,” but here goes.

The Kew Checklist of Botanical Names lists almost 200 hybrid binomials. For your consideration I have compiled a list, here, in the Iris Encyclopedia under “Botanical Nomenclature for Hybrids.” On inspection there are several that are relegated to just a few synonyms and these have interesting back stories.



Iris x violipurpurea and Iris x vinicolor

The first group I will mention brought about the fall of a giant in botany at the time. John Kunkel Small was a celebrated botanist. He had completed a flora of the Eastern United States and easily knew more about its flora than anyone else. The herculean task he accomplished cannot be denied. But he took a fateful train ride into the swamps of Louisiana. Looking out the window he saw scores of irises like he had never seen. He came back and collected a truckload that was sent back to the New York Botanical Garden to be grown and studied. He and his colleague Edward Johnston Alexander ultimately published a paper proclaiming about 110 species of irises in the Southern United States.



Iris brevicaulis, Iris giganticaerulea, and Iris fulva, the three parental species of Iris x volipurpurea

The botanical world was shocked! It was soon demonstrated by Percy Viosca that most of these irises were not new species but hybrids of Iris fulva, Iris giganticaerulea, and Iris brevicaulis.  The Kew lists reflects this by changing 61 of these names to hybrid names rather than accepting them, except as synonyms of one master name for this parentage of three parent species (Iris x violipurpurea). One other hybrid name was accepted as the name for just Iris fulva and giganticaerulea crosses (Iris x vinicolor).  So all of those names that Small thought were different enough to be separate species, were essentially lost. But this diversity could still be recognized as cultivar names.



Iris x volipurpurea "cultivars" 'Chrysophoenicia' and 'Chrysaeola' are similar to about 60 others that were originally considered species but were later classified as hybrids

Horticulturalists often complain about how botanical names continually change. This is because they denote evolutionary relationships. As the understanding of these relationships changes, so do the names. Horticultural ‘cultivar’ names are meant only to distinguish the types of plants and are usually unchanging. So these rejected species of Small became cultivars such as ‘Aurilinea’, ‘Chrysophoenicia’ and ‘Rosipurpurea’ etc. and were published as such in the 1939 American Iris Society Alphabetical Iris Check List. (The rule that cultivars could not have Latin names came later.) These cultivar names replace the botanical hybrid names.

Of course, when the world reacts it often overreacts. Viosca admitted that he was only referring to the irises that Small named in Louisiana. But many botanists immediately assumed that the irises that Small described from Florida were also hybrids. Dr. Phil Ogilvie championed more investigation into these irises and pointed out that each seemed to be relegated to its own river system in Florida. Henderson recognized Iris savannarum from Florida in The Flora of North American and relegated those other species as synonyms of savannarum. Today some botanists take an extreme view that all these irises are examples of the same species using the name Iris hexagona. So the pendulum swings.

Even botanists using some modern techniques claim Iris nelsoni as nothing but a hybrid Iris x nelsoni. But this stance puts a very rare group of irises from around the Abbeville, Louisiana area at greater risk because how much support can you gather to protect a hybrid versus a species? No one contests that in the past it developed as a hybrid from Iris fulva; but its ecological requirements today are very different, and it certainly plays a different role in the ecosystem. Other species have been shown to have been developed through hybridization, such as Iris versicolor from Iris setosa and Iris virginica.



Iris pallida and Iris variegata the two species that were parents of diploid tall-bearded "species"

Iris x amoena and Iris x squalens two irises resulting from the above cross

Another big group of botanical hybrid names (55) are those relegated to synonymy with Iris x germanica. Sir Michael Foster convincingly showed that a number of diploid tall bearded iris that had previously been called species probably formed as the result of the two diploid species Iris pallida and Iris variegata. The Kew Checklist gives Iris x germanica as the hybrid name for this parentage. When one sees Iris x squalens, Iris x amoena, Iris x neglecta, etc. This seems perfectly reasonable. But there are two other groups that do not fit well in this hypothesis.


“Grandma's Old Blue Iris” a sterile triploid

First is the iris that is widely grown and called Iris germanica. Unfortunately it has no other name to distinguish it except “Grandmas Old Blue Iris” It is often referred to as triploid, and seems totally sterile. Unlike the other “Germanicas” it is an intermediate iris. It is said to have 44 chromosomes. Pallida and Variegata have 24 chromosomes. Many believe it is the product of a 40-chromosome parent (20 chromosome gamete) and a 24-chromosome parent with an unreduced gamete. Iris albicans and Iris florentina share a similar type of background, and are sterile; but presumably come each from a different 40-chromosome parent.

The other group being referred to Iris x germanica are presumably 48-chromosome tall bearded irises. Murray was troubled by the fact that modern tall bearded irises were tetraploid while the earlier TBs were diploid so he proposed a new name Iris x altobarbata, which in Latin means tall-bearded. The Kew Checklist does not accept this name probably on a procedural technicality. Another attempt to name the tetraploid “germanicas” was made by Henderson with his Iris x conglomerata (a name not mentioned in the Kew list. Henderson’s argument was that many species have gone into the TBs including Iris pumila, hence the conglomerate. This name did not follow all the rules of publication.


'Amas', a tetraploid I. germanica

Despite two attempts, no satisfactory name has emerged for this group.  I have yet to see strong evidence that the tetraploids emerged from the combination of Iris pallida and Iris variegata which is how I. x germanica is being defined. There have been several “species” that have been defined as I. germanica. One of the key iris to be added to the pallida/variegata mix that precipitated tetraploid offspring was ‘Amas’ which is probably best viewed as a cultivar. Itself of hybrid origin it did not produce pods but its pollen changed the face of tall-bearded irises by fathering the new tetraploid I. germanica cultivars.

There are a number of irises that were essentially cultivars, and expressed here as botanical hybrids but could be candidates for the name of the 48-chromosome species that are relegated to Iris x germanica if one does not buy into the parentage as resulting from the two diploids  I. pallida and I. variegata.

Like the X-files of TV, the data can be debated. I have just pointed out two botanical hybrid names (Iris x germanica and Iris x violipurpurea) that account for half of the list of 200. There are still many x-names that function admirably to identify groups that originate from a given set of species. And there are also many more that have not been included in the list. But perusing what is listed may widen ones knowledge of various lineages. As agent Molder would say “The truth is out there.” Take a look at the X-Files, here.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

SIGNA Newsletter -- Winter 2014 Issue

By Andi Rivarola

The new Winter 2014 edition of SIGNA (the Species Iris Group of North America) is out, and here's an introduction and short recap. 

As we say in SIGNA, invite a friend to check what SIGNA is all about and/or to join the society. They won't regret it and neither would you. To join please visit our webpage, here.

In this issue, a fantastic article and introduction of two irises you may not have heard about: iris boissieri and iris serotina. Both are part of the iris Subgenus Xiphium that occur in the wild from the northwest of Morocco in North Africa, to as far east as the heel of Italy and also West into Spain and Portugal. 

From Russia, Nina Alexeeva introduces us to a new iris from the Kuril Islands, Iris lokiae. Find this exciting article in the section Irises from Russia.

You will also find wonderful list (including pictures) of recent introductions of SPEC and SPEC-X irises. A couple of white irises that caught my attention, and yes you may call me a white iris fool. 'Sushi' ( by Jill Copeland, R. 2013)  an I. pseudacorus X Ensata cross; and 'Precious Pearl' a crestata iris (by Barbara & David Schmieder, R. 2012); added them to my must-get list for next year.

I read with great delight the information on the article, History of the Iridarium, In Celebration of the 300th Anniversary of the Botanical Garden of Peter the Great in St. Petersburg, by
N. B. Аlexeeva, Curator. What an fantastic, detailed, historical account of this important organization. Loved this article and it made me aware of the amazing dedication and work that people do for the love of iris around the world.

There are so many more wonderful topics covered on this issue of the SIGNA Newsletter, we hope that you will consider becoming a member so you can read it in its entirety.

And, now for some more exciting news: The SIGNA Seed Exchange is now available. What is the Seed Exchange? For me, it's a wonderful way to grow species and other iris types in seed form to grow in my garden that otherwise I may not be able to obtain. The SIGNA Seed Exchange is a major benefit to SIGNA members. It is also the main fund raiser for SIGNA. The proceeds go toward the publication of the SIGNA Bulletin and help to sponsor collecting trips, special publications, and research grants. Although it is only available to SIGNA members, you may become a member when you order seeds. More information, here.

Don't forget to check our species iris database available to everyone on our website: http://signa.org/

Do you grow species irises, and what types do well in your area?



Saturday, August 31, 2013

2013 Randolph Perry Medal winner 'Roy's Repeater'

by Jim Murrain

I am pleased to announce the winner of the 2013 Randolph Perry Medal 
is 'Roy's Repeater' by Terry  Aitken of Washington.

Photo by C. Hensler
Here's a full description of this beautiful Iris via the Iris Encyclopedia:   

'Roy's Repeater' (J. Terry Aitken, R. 2002). Sdlg. 97 SPEC 3C. SPEC-X, 42" (107 cm), ML-VL. White ground heavily overlaid with purple veins, F. with well defined sulphur yellow signal with purple veins; style arms white, veined purple near crests. 'Roy Davidson' X unknown - possibly 'Between the Lines'. Aitken 2002. HM 2006, AM 2010.
To learn more about this Medal go here.
Species Cross is a horticultural class for hybrids. Although this class was the last to be created, it represents Irises that are the earliest of their kind. Someday many of these crosses may go on to develop into classes that warrant their own category. All the hybrid classes such as tall-bearded or standard dwarf had their beginnings in those first crosses between two species. Some crosses between species have been so rewarding they have been repeated creating substantial subgroups like Sino-Siberians and Calsibes. This is a class of experimentation and innovation that helps us learn about species and the possibilities for the future. The highest award for this class is the Randolph-Perry Medal.