■ (SPEC) Iris hartwegii Bak.

1876, John Gilbert Baker

Iris hartwegii Baker (John Gilbert Baker, 1876, California); California (Series Californicae); 4-12" (10-30 cm); Yellow; Usually 2 pale creamy yellow or lavender flowers often veined darker. Narrow (2-6 mm), deciduous leaves rather few and loosely arranged; The flowers rather small 6-8 cm in diameter have narrow falls and standards and is considered attractive only in its most compact forms. Perianth tube short and stout, the bracts separated.

See below:

• * References
• * Synonyms
• * Variations
• * Hybrids
• * Distribution and Cultivation

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References:

The Gardeners' Chronicle 40: 323. 9 Sep. 1876; 43. I. Hartwegii, Baker. — Rhizome firm, oblique, 1/8--1/6 inch thick. Relics of old leaves splitting up into fibres. Leaves two, produced to a tuft, linear, 6— 10 inches long at the flowering time, 1/8 inch broad, acuminate, firm in texture, with crowded fine nervation. Stems very slender, wiry, 1—2 flowered, 3 — 4 inches high, with a single reduced leaf from the middle. Spathe of two or three linear valves 1 1/2— 2 inches long, firm in texture, opposite or slightly superposed. Pedicel reaching a length of 1 — 1 1/2 inch; ovary cylindrical, 3/8 inch long ; tube 1/6 inch, cyathiform ; limb 1 1/2 inch, pale yellow ; falls obovate unguiculate, with a reflexing lamina 1/2 inch broad, as long as the claw ; standards erect, oblanceolate, with a long claw 1/6 inch broad, rather shorter than the falls. Stigmas i inch long, including the crests. Anther 3/8 inch long, equaling the filament. Capsule not seen. A native of California, gathered by Hartweg on the mountains of Sacramento in 1848. Very near tenax, but the flowers much smaller and yellow, and the spathe becoming 3-valved, and bearing more than one flower. Unknown in cultivation and unfigured.
Journal of the Linnaean Society, London 16: 138. 1878;
Aliso 4: 1. 1958
Erythrea 7: 22. 1889;
Ware 1890;
Gard. & For. 10: 95. 10 Mar. 1897; Iris Hartwegii, Baker. FREQUENT inquiries about this pretty Iris show that it is a favorite, and lead me to put on record what I know about the species. Iris Hartwegii occurs in California at elevations of from 1,300 to 4,500 feet, in a belt almost exactly coinciding with that occupied by Pinus Lambertiana. Like this Pine, it does far better on cool, protected northerly slopes than on shallow-soiled hot slopes facing south. The fact that its large clumps die out if the surrounding Pines and shrubs are cleared off, proves that this Iris prefers the shelter, and it does well even when the needles from the Pines smother almost everything else on the ground. The tufts may be small or as much as twenty-four inches in diameter. I have seen whole slopes covered with them. The tender India-yellow color fades in the hot sun very rapidly, but a field of these flags, lit up by the rays of the sun falling through the stand of Pines, is a beautiful sight. The stems range from twelve to eighteen inches at the lowest limit of the plants, to but six or eight inches at its highest range. The size of the flowers varies but slightly, though the falls and standards are somewhat reduced in the highest altitudes. The climatic conditions under which it grows are naturally varied when so wide a range suits this species. The lowest temperature at the height where it begins to appear was 22 degrees, Fahrenheit, in eight years of observation, the highest 112 degrees. Although the seeds from which most trees of the Sugar Pine (Pinus Lambertiana) are raised have been gathered at altitudes between 3,000 and 4,000 feet, it must not be expected that Iris gathered from low limits would do equally well in eastern gardens. The dwarfed plants at 4,500 feet altitude are exposed to very severe winters, tempered only by the heavy snows which fall in those regions. At Panther Creek, Amador County, I have known snowfalls ten feet in depth, while one winter in about five may not know snow deeper than ten inches. Good drainage seems essential to the growth of this Iris, and, above all, a period of rest during the whole summer. In our Sierras, at the altitude of 1,300 feet, no rain falls after the middle of May, unless there happens to be a shower about the Fourth of July, until in fall when the advance showers of winter set in about the middle of September. The mean rainfall at 1,300 feet elevation is about thirty-five inches, most of which falls during December, January and February. Applying these observations to eastern conditions, I would say Iris Hartwegii should have the most sunny place in the garden, unless your summer equals the extreme heat I have recorded. It should be well up on a slope, above a rock wall, or in a similar position, and kept from freezing too deep in the ground. While there are far more gorgeous Irises to be found, and most of them are more easy of cultivation, it is the charm of succeeding with what seems refractory which will add greatly to the pleasure of cultivating Iris Hartwegii. _ TT Berkeley, Calif. George Hansen
Van Tubergen 1900;
Dykes, The Genus Iris tab. 10, 40. 1913,
Ainsley 1928; Per. 1930;

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Synonyms

Foothill Iris ----

Variations.
Iris hartwegii

• subsp. hartwegii (Parish) Lenz.
• subsp. australis (Parish) Lenz
• subsp. columbiana Lenz.
• subsp. pinetorum (Eastwood) Lenz.

Iris hartwegii has the following variations; 'Australis', 'Columbiana', 'Parishii','Pinetorum'. ----

Hybrids

Iris hartwegii crosses include; 'Chrysowegii', 'Golden Scissortails', 'Har-Ten'. ---

Distribution

Distribution: The distribution of the species gives clues as to its cultural requirements, although plants in cultivation can often tolerate a wider range of variables: The species is found in the following region: Bonap's North American Plant Atlas shows the following map reproduced by permission of Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2015. Taxonomic Data Center. (http://www.bonap.net/tdc). Chapel Hill, N.C. [maps generated from Kartesz, J.T. 2015. Floristic Synthesis of North America, Version 1.0. Biota of North America Program (BONAP). (in press)]
Cultivation; Prefers moist soil, but can be grown in good garden soil, well-drained and flourishes in full sun to part shade. Copius water during bloomseason. See Cultivation of Louisiana Irises

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-- Main.RPries - 2009-11-25