Dykes in The Genus Iris, 1913Description. Rootstock , a slender rhizome with crowded shoots. Leaves , dwarf, narrow, falcate, resembling those of I. iberica. Stem , 4-6 in. long, bearing a reduced leaf. Spathes , green, clasping the tube, 2 in. long, 1-flowered, somewhat inflated and very slightly tinged with purple at the extreme edge. Pedicel , very short. Ovary , trigonal, under an inch long, pointed at either end. Tube , 1/2-3/4 in. Falls , strap-shaped, extended horizontally with nearly parallel edges. The end is rounded and slightly emarginate. The groundwork is a pale crimson or light purple, almost completely covered along the centre with black-purple hairs, giving the whole surface the appearance of black velvet. At the edges there are thick black-purple veins. About half an inch from the upper end there is a narrow cross band of pale pinkish crimson, beyond which the ground colour is almost obscured by thick black-purple veins ; 2 in. long by ½-¾ broad. Standards . The orbicular blade narrows gradually to the short haft, which bears a number of blue or violet hairs. The bluish-white ground colour is closely veined with thick deep blue-violet veins and dotted with the same colour. Styles , of a brownish-yellow colour, closely covered with dark brown-purple spots arranged in lines. Crests , very small, with finely serrate edges. Stigma , entire, prominent, oblong. Filaments , tinged with purple. Anthers , cream. Pollen , cream. Capsule , 2 in., rounded trigonal, tapering gradually at either end. Seeds, globose with large creamy aril.Observations.This Iris was rightly named paradoxa, " the unexpected," for its standards are four times as wide as the falls, which look and feel like a narrow strip of black velvet.It is not a robust species nor is it at all easy to keep from year to year in England. It was partly for this reason that Foster crossed this Iris with several strong-growing Pogoniris, such as I. variegata and I. pallida. The result in each case was a plant midway between the two parents, less vigorous than the Pogoniris but yet able to grow on from year to year under ordinary cultivation. The feature of both Parvar (or Parsam, for Foster himself told me that he had forgotten exactly what Pogoniris he had used) and Parpall, which obviously resembles a pallida, is the broad velvety beard, which however is not quite so dense as that of I. paradoxa but allows the light ground colour to be seen. |