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Spanish Iris Cultivar History

Spanish Irises, varieties of the species Iris xiphium were once very popular. today they have almost disappeared and are rarely offered by cultivar names. The following catalog references show what was once available.

1810

The first catalog listing for Spanish Irises was by William Booth
Conrad Loddiges listed Iris zyphium in 1820 and the 1820 Prince Catalog listed Spanish Flag Bulbous Iris
By 1830 the Prince Catalog was offering 30 varieties (unlisted) of Spanish Irises and in 1837 listed a double form variety plena

1842

In 1842 James Carter offered the following 50 varieties: SPANISH IRIS. 'Aimable Louisa', blue variegated; 'Cato', white and green; 'Christine', purple, green and yellow; 'Comte d’Orleans', blue var.; 'Cornelia', blue variegated; 'Ciipido', citron; 'Dorothea', purple and green; 'Diana', yellow and white; 'Elisabeth', white; 'Favorite', brown and yellow;' 'Gygas', yellow; 'Hebe', green, yellow and purple' 'Haute Berle', feuillemort; 'Helene', yellow; 'Henriette', blue and yellow; 'Hortensia', brown and yellow; 'Isabella', blue variegated; 'Jaune Constante', deep yellow; 'Jeanette', porcelain; 'Jonquiline', purple var.; 'Juno', blue and purple var.; 'Jupiter', dark yellow; 'La Belle Parisienne', cream; 'La Bergere', blue variegated; 'La Cadeau', blue and green; 'La Comtesse', purple, yellow and green; 'La Candeur', feuillemort; 'La Comte', yellow and do. 'La Delicatesse', yellow var.; 'La Hautesse', brown and yellow; 'La Herbe', green, yellow and purple; 'L’Ornament du Parc', fine blue; 'La Princesse', fine yellow; 'La Duchesse', feuillemort; 'Leander', violet; 'Le Due', yellow; 'Leopold', yellow; 'Ma Chere', yellow and grisdelin; 'Maria', porcelain; 'Merveille du Monde', white and yellow; 'Maria Louisa', feuillemort; 'Marmontel', yellow and white; 'Magasin des Couleurs', var.; 'Neapolitaine', pearl; 'Nimrod', orange; 'Pavilion', dark blue; 'Recompense', blue and orange; 'Reconnoissance', feuillemort; 'Reine d’Ispahan', brown; 'Susanna', purple;  
50 extra fine varieties, 10s.6d.; 12do.3s.
Fine mixed, per 100, 6s. per doz. Is
The The Floricultural Cabinet and Florist's Magazine vol. 10, p.261, 1842 provided the following list of Spanish Irises grown in England
The 1857 Prince catalog offered 30 unlisted varieties; and the 1860 catalog offered a collection of 25 named unlisted varieties
Thorburn's catalog of 1844 only listed "six sorts of Spanish Irises" without providing names or descriptions
In James Carter's 1845 catalog the list of Spanish Irises had grown to 102 varieties
In The James Carter 1851 catalog the list of Spanish Irises was reduced back to 50 varieties, but the 1852 Fall catalog had 114 varieties, and then in The 1853 catalog it was back to 50 varieties

1861-1870

The Floricultural Cabinet and Florist's Magazine vol. 10, p.261, 1842 provided the following list of Spanish Irises grown in England
William Bull 1861 catalog offered 17 named varieties
 
Barr & Sugdon 1866 catalog offers collections with 25 named varieties of Spanish Irises;
Barr & Sugdon in their 1867 catalog offered colections that would contain as many as 50 varieties but the varieties were not listed separately.
Dreer in their 1870 catalog offered assorted Spanish Iris with no indication of the number of varieties.
 

1890

 
 
 
 

1900

The General Bulb Co.'s 1902 catalog offered 20 named Spanish iris cultivars;
Leedham Bulb Co. offered in 1907 Spanish irises grown in California
 

1910

In the 1911 Veitch catalog several Spanish Irises are listed along with a photo.
The 1915 Van Waveren catalog listed 9 varieties.

1920

 
 

1930

The General Bulb Co.'s 1902 catalog offered 20 named Spanish iris cultivars;
 

1940

 
 

1950

 
 

For more information on historic Irises visit the Historic Iris Preservation Society at http://www.historiciris.org/

-- BobPries - 2017-05-24
Topic revision: r10 - 25 Jun 2017, BobPries
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