(SPEC) Iris darwasica Regel
1884, botanical author Regel
Iris darwasica Regel (Eduard August von Regel, 1884, Bokhara);
Section Regelia. Color Code-S6D; Height 6-16" (15-40 cm); Flowers veined purple on lilac ground; beard purple
Act. Hort. Petrop. 8: 679. 1884; There is considerable confusion between this and
Iris lineata Fos. Perhaps they are one and the same species. Baker described as
Iris suwarowi Regel in
Curtis's Botanical Magazine 114: tab. 7029, in 1888, one of these, generally considered
Iris darwasica Regel. Illustrated in color we have redrawn it here as figure 212; The accompanying description is as follows: "This is another very distinct Iris, which has lately been discovered in Central Asia. Our single wild specimen in the Kew herbarium was gathered by Albert Regel in Turkestan in June, 1885. It was flowered by Max Leichtlin at Baden Baden in 1886, and both at Kew and by Professor Foster in May, 1888. The various specimens show a considerable range of variation, and it seems quite clear now that Iris lineata of Foster is a mere form of the original Suwarowi. Botanically the species is interesting, because it varies in the presence or absence of a beard down the claw of the inner segments of the perianth. I am quite prepared now to admit, what Professor Foster has for some time maintained, that it is not desirable to keep up Hexapogon as a section of the genus Iris distinct from Pogoniris.
Description: Rhizome short, creeping. Produced leaves generally three on a side, linear, falcate, very glaucous, finally a foot long, a quarter of an inch broad. Peduncle one-headed, a foot long, bearing two or three much-reduced leaves. Outer spathe-valves oblong-lanceolate, acute, ventricose, green at the flowering time, two or two and a half inches long. Ovary subcylindrical, shortly pedicellate, under an inch long; perianth-tube cylindrical, greenish, as long as the ovary; limb two inches long; limb two inches long; segments closely veined with oblique lines of claret-purple on a greenish-yellow ground; outer oblong-cuneate, half an inch broad, with a distinct lilac-blue beard, reaching more than half-way up; inner segments oblong, with a long claw, which is frequently, but not always faintly bearded. Style an inch long, including the deltoid crenulate crests. Anthers linear, half an inch long, much exceeding the filament."
References: BIS p.112.
The Iris Year Book 1965. Krel. 1895; Van T. 1900; 1909; Darwas Iris;
Iris lineata Fos.;
Iris suwarowi Regel. It is interesting to note that Regel was the author of both
darwasica and
suwarowii and it would be interesting to know how he thought these irises differed.
Iris darwasica no selections have been made as yet;
Iris darwasica crosses
'Angharad',
'Hesperia'
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Interested in Iris Species? Please visit the:
Species Iris Group of North America website.
Your Observations Are Valued. Please make note of bud count, branching, purple based foliage and bloom time, etc. Because these are affected by climate, note date, year and geographic location and write these and other comments in the comment box below.
-- Main.RPries - 2010-01-09