Biological Success of Cultivars

An organism can be defined as "Biologically Successful" if it passes on its genes to future generations.

Cultivars show various degrees of biological success. It can be measured by the number of descendants. Relative success can be seen by comparing the number of registered offspring to other cultivars in the same generation.

The most successful cultivars make up the foundation of the current gene pool. They have been named "Foundation Irises"

See Below

• Most succesful for year ##
• Discussion
• Cultivar Rank
• Successful Lineages
• Questions

Most succesful for year:

Discussion:

Methods

While between 50-70% of cultivars recorded in a given year never produce registered offspring, the remaining cultivars vary considerably in their contribution to the future gene pool. Usually less than five percent produce more than 20 registered offspring. These irises are the foundation of the future gene pool. But identifying these "Foundation Irises" is a bit tricky. Historic records are not as complete as we would like. Many irises are reported as parentage unknown. A large number of cultivars only have the pod parent recorded. This absent information undoubtedly results in undercounting cultivar's progeny.

First generation offspring give us the most accurate information. But second generations where the cultivar is mentioned in the parentage are also counted. This results in an under count because the grandparent is often not mentioned in the registration parentage when the parents themselves are both registered. To distinguish the extra generation parentages an asterisk is placed after the listed offspring that have the parent cultivar as further back than the first generation. Early hybridizers often mixed pollen from several plants and suggested the parents included the irises in the mixture. This practice probably results in counting more than the actual numbers.

It is probably unfair to compare cultivars introduced in different years. During World War One many nurseries were asked to convert to growing food. This badly affected the famous nursery of Amos Perry. All his stock was plowed under and replaced with vegetables. Probably because of this, many of his introductions were not as widely distributed and hence were not used as much in hybridizing.

It would be expected that Dykes Medal winners would be used extensively in hybridizing. But not all of them played a major part in creating today's gene pool. To see their relative contributions check out "Foundation Irises". Recent Medal winners will have fewer offspring because they have not been around long enough to have many offspring registered.

Despite all the caveats we can determine those special Irises that laid the foundations of our current gene pool.

Results

So far only 26 consecutive years have been researched, 1901-1926. 1885 was researched because of 'Amas' one of the first tetraploid collections. 'Amas' had 49 progeny, remarkable for that early date. But some of those progeny were also foundation irises. 'Amas' had 49 progeny that were either first generation or a further generation mentioned in the parentage. But when a parent is not a seedling but a named cultivar it is included in the parentage under that name. In other words 'Domimion' as one of the offspring of 'Amas' has 240 progeny all of which are further generation progeny that would not appear in 'Amas's count. So in effect 'Amas has 240 additional progeny not represented in its recorded count. If one adjusts for this we could say that 'Amas' had 289 progeny. If we arbitrarily define a Foundation Iris as one with more than 20 progeny, there are several second generation Foundation Irises among 'Amas's initial progeny count. If we add the progeny of its following first generation offspring: 'Alcazar' with 112 progeny, 'Ambassadeur' with 49 progeny, 'Ib-Mac' with 50 progeny, 'Lent A. Williamson' with 84 progeny, 'Lord Of June' with 21 progeny, just two generations provide 600+ progeny. In the third generation we have 'Bruno' with another 161 progeny. Just looking at the Line "'Amas'--'Dominion'---'Bruno'" is the root of 450 progeny.

A logical question would be what iris had the most recorded progeny? To answer this question we might turn to Dyke's Medal winners. On the Foundation Iris Page; all winners are listed. recent winners are ignored because they have not had much time for crosses to be made, yet one of these recent winners stands out: 'Gypsy Lord' since 2015 already has 187 progeny. A few Dyke's Medal winners were used very little, perhaps because they were like 'Coralie' so poor a grower it had no progeny. But most had been used quite a bit. 'Rippling Waters' had a high of 387 progeny. But a non medal winner 'Snow Flurry had a high of 517 progeny and was awarded the Director's award. 'Snow Flurry' was the offspring of 'Purissima' which had 336 progeny. If one added the two progeny records, than it is possible that 'Purissima' actually had 843 + progeny plus even more if one researched its 239 first generation offspring for their progeny. No wonder the Historic Iris Preservation Society named 'Purissima' the Legacy Iris for 2025.

We have only scratched the surface discovering Irises that may not have won medals but contributed mightily to the gene pool. You are invited to research your own favorite irises on the wiki.

Cultivar Rank:

At present this list comprises only those few irises that have been researched and their progeny enumerated: Cultivars with less than 20 progeny are not included.

The "Early Years" ---to 1930: (Only 1885, 1901--1928, researched so far)

346 progeny
'Purissima' 240+ progeny
'Dominion' 161 progeny
'Bruno' 154 progeny
'Rameses' 147 progeny
'Souv. de Mme Gaudichau' 125 progeny
'W R Dykes' 112 progeny
'Alcazar' 108 progeny
'Dauntless' 101+ progeny
'Shekinah' 92 progeny
'Mrs Valerie West' 89 progeny
'Cardinal' 84 progeny
‘Lent A. Williamson’ 82 progeny 'King Tut' 81 progeny
'Sherbert' 73 progeny
'San Francisco' 68 progeny
'William Mohr' 67 progeny
'King Midas' 65 progeny
'Grace Sturtevant' 61 progeny
'Nene' 59 progeny
‘Mary Geddes’ 59 progeny
'Sensation' 58 progeny
'Morning Splendor' 55 Progeny
'Dolly Madison' 52 progeny
'Caterina' 52 progeny
'Conquistador' 51 progeny
'Mme Cheri' 49 progeny
'Amas' 49 progeny
'Ambassadeur' 46 progeny
'Sierra Blue' 41 progeny
'Pluie D'Or' 39 progeny
'Santa Barbara' 39 progeny
'Tenebrae' 37 progeny
'El Capitan' 35 progeny
'Helios' 34 progeny
'Chasseur' 34 progeny
'Seminole' 30 progeny
'Andromache' 30 progeny
'Imperator' 30 progeny
IB--'Iris King' 30 progeny
'Oriflamme' 28 progeny
'Ochracea Caerulea' 26 progeny
AR--'Charon' 25 progeny
'California Blue' 25 progeny
'Shasta' 25 progeny
‘Susan Bliss’ 24 progeny
'Frieda Mohr' 24 progeny
'Melchior' 23 progeny
'Her Majesty' 23 progeny
'Medrano' 21 progeny
'Afterglow'
21 progeny
'Anne Marie Cayeux' 21 progeny
'Argentina' 21 progeny
'Desert Gold' 21 progeny
'Magnifica'

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While work on the early years is not yet completed (1901-1928) had 1727 irises recorded. A few will still be added as work continues but above are 48 Foundation Iris. They comprise only 2.8 percent of the recorded irises. We hope to add Chromosome numbers for most if not all. Data suggests that most were part of the new tetraploid revolution. Many were notable for their very large flowers.

The later years-1950---1969 (only 1950, 1960, researched so far')

348 progeny ‘Mary Randall’ 119 progeny ‘Party Dress’
85 progeny ‘Wild Ginger’ 77 progeny ‘Gypsy Lullaby’ 77 progeny ‘Sable Night’ 70 progeny ‘Black Swan’ 65 progeny ‘Esther Fay’ 63 progeny ‘Chinese Coral’ 59 progeny ‘Tea Apron’ 54 progeny ‘Molten’ 54 progeny ‘Pacific Panorama’ 46 progeny ‘Dolly Varden’ 35 progeny ‘Lady Ilse’ 34 progeny ‘Belle Meade’ 27 progeny ‘Black Hills’

The years 1970--1980 (only 1979 and 1980 researched so far)

315 progeny ‘Sky Hooks’ 103 progeny ‘Queen In Calico’ 93 progeny ‘Ringo’ 92 progeny ‘Paradise’ 58 progeny ‘Capricious’ 52 progeny ‘Lady Friend’ 50 progeny ‘Earl Of Essex’ 45 progeny ‘Catalyst’ 43 progeny ‘In Love’ 39 progeny ‘Master Touch’ 36 progeny ‘Love Chant’ 32 progeny ‘Leda's Lover’ 32 progeny ‘Amarillo’
29 progeny ‘Eastertime’ 25 progeny ‘Broadway’

Successful Lineages:

Under Construction See about lineages

Broken Color Lines

Measuring Success Across Lineages

To assess the biological success of various lineages, one can follow a systematic approach:

1. Identify Progeny: Begin with a parent organism and record all its direct offspring.
2. Track Offspring Success: Among these offspring, determine which individuals produce the most offspring themselves.
3. Continue the Process: For the most prolific offspring, repeat the process: identify their offspring and again select the line with the most descendants.
4. Repeat Indefinitely: By following this method across many generations (“ad infinitum”), one can trace the most reproductively successful lineage.

Implications of This Method

This approach allows researchers to pinpoint the line that contributes most to the gene pool over time. Even if a parent produces many offspring, only those lines that continue to reproduce successfully across generations will have a lasting impact on the population’s genetic makeup.

Applications and Considerations

• This method is useful in evolutionary biology, conservation, and breeding programs, as it helps identify individuals or families that have a significant influence on future generations.
• It is important to consider environmental factors that may affect reproductive success, as well as potential genetic bottlenecks or founder effects.

Conclusion

Measuring biological success through the most prolific lineages provides insight into how certain traits and genes persist within a population. This approach highlights the importance of not just the number of offspring produced, but the lasting reproductive impact of an individual’s descendants across generations.

For examples of various color lines go to Development of Tall-bearded Irises from "The World Of Iris"

A very biologically successful Line of Irises

I. cypriana 23 progeny 'Caterina'
52 progeny 'Argentina'
21 progeny 'Purissima'
336 progeny 'Snow Flurry'
517 progeny 'Rehobeth'
30 progeny 'Poet's Dream'
20 progeny 'Winter Olympics'
149 progeny
Dykes Medal1967 Dykes 'Light Fantastic'
20 progeny 'Winterscape'
73 progeny 'Busy Being Blue'
16 progeny 'Navy Blues'
12 progeny 'Aqua Taj'
2 progeny 'Mystical Journey'
Registered 2019 Total progeny from just this line 1,241.
In 1984 it was 10 generations from species
Has this branch ended or is it just not enough time to see new registrations of Progeny?

I. cypriana 23 progeny 'Caterina'
52 progeny 'Argentina'
21 progeny 'Purissima'
336 progeny Faught Seedling B 31: Faught seedling# 4E1: 'Cahokia'
77+ progeny 'Whole Cloth'
315 progeny 1962 Dykes 'Lilac Champagne'
72 progeny 'Touche'
7 progeny 'Merry Madrigal'
17 progeny 'Edith Wolford'
149 progeny 1993 Dykes 'Stairway To Heaven'
43 progeny2000 Dykes 'Sulphur Crests'

I. cypriana 23 progeny 'Caterina'
52 progeny 'Argentina'
21 progeny 'Purissima'
336 progeny 'Helen McGregor'
115+ progeny
1949 Dykes Seedling
('First Courtship'
X
Nina's Delight')

Seedling
('Patricia Craig'
X
Seedling)
'Wedding Vow'
49 progeny
315 progeny ‘Sky Hooks’ seedling# B-8-2:
('Cease-Fire'
x
'Sky Hooks') 142 progeny
'Thornbird'
Dykes 1997 ‘Netherby Hall’

'Amas'
49 progeny 'Dominion'
240+ progeny 'Bruno'
161 progeny 'Mrs Valerie West'
92 progeny 'Magnolia'
12 progeny 'Pinnacle'
86 progeny 'Opal Beauty'
12 progeny 'Giant Rose'
7 progeny

'Amas'
49 progeny 84 progeny
‘Lent A. Williamson’ 17 progeny
'Dorothy Dietz' 98 Progeny
'Wabash' 30 progeny
'Gaylord' ‘Chief Justice’

Broken Color Lines

Some lineages with Broken Color

201 progeny
'Stepping Out' 4 progeny
'Inty Greyshun' 7 progeny
'Purple Streaker' 28 progeny
'Batik'
Knowlton Medal 1992 'Millennium Falcon'
Wister Medal 2008 Seedling 01-284 Seedling 04-555 Seedling 06-815 Seedling 08-975 Seedling 011-973 'Simulcast'

Another Broken Color Line from 'Stepping Out'

201 progeny
'Stepping Out' Seedling
(64-12 x 'Stepping Out') Seedling
('Rippling Waters' x ('Frost and Flame' x 'Belle Meade') Seedling
#77-54 'Maria Tormena' 'Tiger Honey' 'Gnus Flash' 'Puzzling Identity'

Another Broken Color Line

'Amas'
49 progeny 'Dominion'
240+ progeny 'Bruno'
161 progeny 'Mrs Valerie West'
92 progeny 'Magnolia'
12 progeny 'Pinnacle'
86 progeny Seedling
('Pinnacle' X pink seedling) Seedling
('Pinnacle' X pink seedling) 'Pipes Of Pan' 'Lightening Ridge' 'Latin Tempo' 'Sostenique' 'Child Of Fortune' 'Tomorrow's Child' seedling
('Tomorrow's Child') seedling
(seedling X 'Costa Rica') seedling# 90-45b seedling# 92-42 'Puccini' seedling# K28A: 'Claim To Fame' 'Die Laughing' 'I Broke It' sibling 'I'm Not Stable' 'Your A Mess' 'Hodgepodge'

Iris mesopotamica
75 progeny 'Conquistador'
52 progeny Seedling
('Conquistador' X 'Parisiana') 'San Francisco'
73 progeny Dykes 1927 'Matterhorn'
32 progeny

Questions about lines

Cultivar Active Hybridizing Life

How many generation from the Species?

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In need of Construction:

• Biological Success of Siberian Irises

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-- BobPries - 29 Mar 2024