The garden. An illustrated weekly journal of horticulture in all its branches [ed. William Robinson], vol. 50: , fig. 1 (1896) IRIS DOUGLASIANA AND I. TECTORUM.(with a coloured plate.)I. Douglasiana is among the most distinct and beautiful of all the Beardless Irises, many of which have been described in a recent number of The Garden (vol. 50, p. 180). The plant, of which Mr. Moon has given us a most remarkably faithful and excellent portrait, is of vigorous growth, and has long dark green linear leaves, which remain fresh and persistent during the whole winter. I have, however, under the same name a remarkable Iris which is entirely distinct both in habit and bloom from the plant here figured. It has dwarf and somewhat scanty foliage, while the root-stock is what would, I believe, be called "wide-creeping;" the flowers, too, are borne on shorter stalks and are somewhat larger, the falls spreading horizontally, while the colour of the petals, ex-ept for the purple or claret-coloured markings at the base, is yellowish white or ochroleucous, answering, indeed, somewhat to a description I think I have seen somewhere of that and difficult to grow species, I. bracteata. I have had this plant under the same name from more than one source, but my present plant came from Mr. Smith, of Newry, who tells me, judging from the date at which it was sent to me, that he thinks it may have been collected considerably further south than the better-known habitats of the typical I. Douglasiana here figured. It may not improbably be I. Beechy-classed by Mr. Baker as a variety of this species.The other beautiful Iris (I. tectorum) here figured was sent by Dr. Hance from Japan...{Ed. note. The blue tones have faded from this print] |
Dykes, The Genus Iris 36. tab. 8. 1913, Description. Rootstock , a slender, wiry rhizome of a dark red-brown colour. Leaves , 12-18 in. long, 1-½ wide, sometimes very stiff and dark, but usually pale green and narrow, bending over in the upper third, pink near the base. Stem bearing a terminal head of 3 flowers and 1-2 lateral 1-2-flowered branches. Spathe valves , dark green, pointed, stout, rigid, 3-flowered, 3 in. long. Pedicel , 1-1½ in. Ovary , 1¼ in., tapering at either end, acutely trigonal. Tube ,½-1 in., varying in colour, green in the light-flowered forms and purple when the flowers are of a deep shade. Falls. It is almost impossible to give a detailed description of the falls of this Iris, so infinite is the variety of colour forms that it may assume. However the shape remains fairly constant. The haft is broad and passes without any constriction into the broadly oblanceolate blade. Along the centre runs a slightly raised ridge flanked by about four parallel dark lines on a light, usually creamy ground. On either side of this similar lines branch out obliquely, and this veining extends some way on to the blade, the rest of which is uniform in colour with slight inconspicuous veinings of some darker shade than the rest of the surface. Standards , slightly shorter than the falls, lanceolate with a canaliculate haft. The colour is the same as that of the main colour of the falls. Styles , narrow, keeled, of the same colour as the standards. Crests , coarsely dentate, triangular or quadrangular. Stigma , a projecting, triangular tongue. Filaments , pale violet. Anthers , purple. Pollen , cream. Capsule , trigonal, with sharp angles 1t-2 in. long, tapering equally at either end. Seeds , small, spherical, with finely wrinkled coats.Observations.This is apparently a very variable Iris, and Plate VIII illustrates two extreme forms. That with the dark flower has very dark green, short, thick leaves that grow in distinctly fan-shaped tufts, while the other has narrower and less rigid leaves of a paler green. My experience of many seedlings of I. Douglasiana has been that no two are precisely alike, though all of them are easily distinguishable from any other Iris. The leaves remain green throughout the winter and at once attract notice at that time of year in any Iris garden. The ovary is sharply trigonal and tapers at either end to the pedicel below and above to the linear tube of variable length. The ripe capsules of all the other Californian Irises are rounded in outline or section, and quite distinct from the sharply-angled fruit of I. Douglasiana. Moreover it is the only member of the group that has practically spherical and not thick D-shaped or cubical seeds.The endless variety of colour forms of this Iris is perfectly amazing. One of those illustrated is one of the palest and largest, but other pale forms are a nearer approach to yellow or even pale mauve. From this latter a whole series of forms can be traced to the deepest coloured form which is also illustrated. The amount of veining is also liable to considerable variation. In some cases it is practically non-existent, but in others the white-veined patch on the blade of the falls is very striking.In some strong growing specimens the stem branches once or twice, and each lateral stem bears a head of two or three flowers. When the plant is well grown, three flowers are more common than two in a spathe-a feature in which it differs from the other members of the group. For cultivation, see the introductory remarks on the Californian group. |