Re: Re: HYB: New tectorum X bearded in full bloom

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Perhaps this is more appropriate for the species Iris chat group, but it is directly related to this vein now, and I thought it might be of interest here.  The following Crested and Bearded species are recorded as crossing with on another.  This is almost certainly not a complete record, since people are always daubing pollen, and since I only checked a few books.  The order listed (first vs. second) is not meant to imply male or female parent, it is just the way they were listed in the books, and I don't know which way they were crossed (perhaps both in some cases?).  The cross of I. tectorum with I. wattii was listed in both orders.  Chromosome numbers are varied from species to species, and this would certainly affect the results, especially the fertility of the offspring; both adding to and complicating possibilities:

 

I. gracilipes X I. cristata

I. gracilipes X I. tectorum

I. japonica X I. confusa

I. tectorum X I. pallida

I. tectorum X I. [pallida] cengialtii

I. tectorum X I. cristata

I. tectorum X I. wattii

I. verna X I. pallida

I. wattii X I. cristata

I. wattii X I. tectorum

 

I also thought I had heard of I. cristata X I. pallida, but I have rediscovered no published record of it.

 

It is interesting that none of these is recorded as crossing with any true Beardless Iris.

 

This implies relatedness between these species, and would imply to me that it might be worth trying nearly all of the Crested Iris (Evansias or Lophiris) with bearded Iris.  While they have generally been classed as part of subgenus Limniris (Beardless Iris), I've never agreed with this, and have always thought them to belong more properly to subgenus Iris (or the Bearded Iris; including Pogons, Arils, Regalias, Pseudoregalias, and Psammiris).  While limited in scope, the hybridization record implies that this is true.

 

I think any of these species might be worth a shot at crossing with bearded species.  None of the Crested Iris would be easy for me to grow here in New Mexico, but they do represent a wide diversity in cultural requirements, and characters of growth and morphology.    There are a lot of possibilities among the many species of subgenus Iris and the Crested species, and I suspect there is lots of potential for some really interesting hybrids, perhaps with some good horticultural potential.

 

I've wondered if Section Chinensis (at least in part), I. ruthenica, and the Junos are related too, but I don't know much about these, besides having seen a few in flower once or twice.

 

To take it a step further, I think the whole assemblage of bearded/crested species may perhaps be more closely akin, than usually allowed for, to some of those "primitive" Iris that are often separated from the genus Iris entirely.  It might be fun to see if any of those would hybridize with any of these as well.

 

Dave