■ (SPEC) Iris reticulata Bieb.

1857, botanical author Bieberstein

Iris reticulata Bieb. (Friedrich August Marschall von Bieberstein, The Caucasus); Subgenus Hermodactyloides , fragrance of violets

See below:

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

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References

Flor. Taur. Caucas. 1: 33. 1808;
Krel. 1857; 1913;
For more about Reticulata Irises see Alan McMurtrie's website
Gartenflora 13. 336. table 452. 1864, illustrated in color.
Hooker in Curtis's Botanical Magazine 92: tab. 5577. 1866, gives the following description with a color illustration; "Though far from the largest or most gorgeous, this is really one of the most beautiful species of Iris in cultivation; nothing can exceed the deep rich violet of its perianth-lobes and stigmata, or the delicious fragrance of violet it exhales, whilst the leaves are of a less coarse appearance and texture than is usual in the genus. The Royal Gardens are indebted for the plants here figured to Colonel Scott, R.E., who procured them through his friend Captain Smith, R.E., a gentleman employed in the telegraph department in Persia; they flowered in a cool greenhouse in march of the present year. The plant is a native of Georgia, Asia Minor, Kurdistan, Syria, and Persia, and is extremely well deserving of cultivation as a spring flower of easy culture. Description. Root a solitary tuber, coated with a firm network of fibers. Leaves one foot high, striate, erect, glaucous, obtusely four-angled, slightly twisted, with a sharp apex; Sheaths with white scarious edges, closely appressed to the bases of the leaves and flower-stems. Flowers three to four inches in diameter, solitary, erect, deep-violet in hue and fragrance. Perianth with the tube one inch long, slender; outer segments spreading, oblong-cuneiform, with a stout green midrib, blotches towards the base; inner suberect, narrow spathulate, as long as the outer, obtuse, slightly waved, all purple. Ovary obtusely trigonous. Stigma pale-purple; upper segment reflexed, serrate, two-lobed; lower almost obsolete"
Dykes, The Genus Iris 222. 1913, Description. Rootstock , a slender bulb, growing in cultivation to as much as 1 in. in diameter, with creamy netted coats. Leaves , 2, 3 or 4 to each bulb, quadrangular with four unequal sides (see the section on Plate XL V) and horny edges and tip, each leaf springing from two nearly colourless basal clasping sheaths. The longest is about 12 in. long at flowering time, the others being usually much shorter. Stem , very short. Spathe valves , narrow, clasping the tube, with a transparent edge, 3-6 in. long. When the flower opens the spathes reach to the top of the tube, but in a day or two the tube grows another inch and raises the flower by that much above the spathes. Pedicel , short at first, but becoming two or three inches long after flowering. Ovary , cylindrical, ½ in. long. Tube , 3-6 in. long, pale violet, with six deeper stripes. Falls : under surface. The median portion is green, with black violet dots and dashes, the rest of the surface purple violet. Upper surface, slightly panduriform, the haft (1½ in.) being deeply channelled, having along the centre a low yellow or rather orange ridge with black blotches. This is flanked on either side by a white region spotted with black violet, outside which the colour is purple with deep veins. The ovate blade (½ in. long by i in. wide) is sharply deflexed, of a rich violet, with a raised orange ridge, bordered on either side by a white region, with broken violet veins and spots. Standards , usually slightly longer ( 2} in.) than the falls, narrow oblanceolate unguiculate, folded together laterally in the upper part, emarginate, poised at an angle of about 60° with the horizontal. Styles , about 1½ in. long, with nearly parallel sides, keeled, of a reddish purple colour. Crests , large, triangular, with a coarsely serrate edge. Stigma , deeply bilobed, with two rounded teeth. Filaments , 3/4 in. long, pale violet. Anthers, ½ in. long, pointed, bluish. Pollen , yellow, the grains being of a pointed oval shape, with a depression running round the longer axis. Capsule , cylindrical, 1½-2 in. long, with papery walls, 3 or 4 times as long as broad, pointed at either end, and raised above the surface of the ground by the elongated pedicel (cf. Fig. 30). Seeds , when fresh, consist of two spheres separated by a slight constriction, one being white and the other pale pinkish brown. When fully ripe, the white end withers away almost entirely, leaving a brown seed with a smaller lighter appendage. Observatjons. See the introductory notes on the reticulata section see reference at (Subgenus Hermodactyloides )
Wal. 1913; Ainsley 1928; Wayside 1936; Hocker 1937; Starker 1938;
Van T. 1938 Van W. 1938; Van Z. 1938; Waterer 1938; Stewart 1939;
A.M., R.H.S. 1925; Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society 50: 2, 260. Sep. 1925;

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Synonyms

Neubeckia reticulata, Alef.; Xiphion reticulatum, Klatt;

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Chromosome counts

2n=20 Delone 1928; 2n=20 Simonet 1928; 2n=20 Gustafsson & Wendelbo 1975. 2n=20, Johnson & Brandham, 1997.

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Variations

Iris reticulata has the following varieties:

• var. Melusine Chapman
  • var. Krelagei Regel
  • var. purpurea Leichtlin

Iris reticulata has the following

• cultivars;
  • 'Alba', 'Armenian Caucasus Retic', 'Armenian Caucasus Retic Alba', 'Blue Veil'; 'Cantab'; 'Ernest'; 'Halkis'; 'Hyrcana'; 'Hyrcana Artjushenko Form', 'Ida', 'Jeanine', 'J. S. Dijt', 'Kopetdaghense', 'Kuh-e-Abr'; 'Melusine', 'Michael', 'Mrs. M Foster', 'Natascha', 'Reticulata Coerulea', 'Reticulata Cyanea', 'Reticulata Hercules', 'Reticulata Humilis', 'Reticulata Krelagei', 'Reticulata Major', 'Reticulata Purpurea', 'Reticulata Velvet', 'Talish', 'Tibilisi Retic', 'White Caucasus'

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Hybrids

• Iris reticulata crosses
  • Iris reticulata X Iris histrioide
    • 'Alida', 'Benhall Blue', 'Edward'; 'Harmony', 'Joyce' 'Pixie', 'Reticulata Aurora'; 'Royal Blue', 'Violet Beauty', 'Wentworth'
  • Iris histrioides X Iris reticulata
    • 'George', 'Hercules'
  • Iris reticulata X Iris bakeriana
    • 'Clairette'; 'Marguerite', 'Melaina', 'Spring Time'
  • Iris bakeriana X Iris reticulata
    • 'Gordon', 'Pauline'?
  • Iris reticulata X Iris winogradowii
    • 'Polly'
  • Iris reticulata X Unknown
    • 'Surreal'

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Distribution and Cultivation

Culture of Reticulata Group Irises

Quick Summary of Cultural Directions

-- BobPries - 2011-03-07

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Interested in Iris Species? Please visit the: Species Iris Group of North America website.

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-- BobPries - 2010-02-04