Re I. pallida loppio

Dykes on Loppio

When you have the book “The Genus Iris” in front of you and read through it you get a good feel of Dykes whole approach, intention and his style and usage of words which is missing in a small quote. In the section on Pogoniris, he carefully distinguishes between what he considers valid species and possible hybrids and lists the ones he is certain of as a species in one section and the ones he has doubts about in a separate section.. He is struggling to sort out a lot of confusion on names and distribution and to be certain of what is a species and a valid member of that species. He carefully evaluates each variety and grew most of them in his own garden so he could compare them side by side in the same growing conditions. Also he made test crosses of species he had doubts about to see what this told him of its fit to type.
Loppio was not assigned its own section as was I. neglecta, I. sambucina, I. squalens etc. So a species designation was not under consideration. The discussion of Loppio was within the section on I. Cengialti and the problem being addressed was whether it was a valid sample of Cengialti or not. To this end he gave data on how it performed in crosses (fertility) , what it produced in seedlings and differences/similarities with the “variety” Cengialti .  After enumerating a number of differences/problems regarding it similarities to type Cengialti his conclusion was “the claim of the Loppio form to a varietal name is at least doubtful.”

I have typed out more of what he said to help with understanding this. Also attached is a chart of comparisons of pallida, cengialti , illyrica and Loppio on a number of different botanical factors on which Dykes made comparisons between these plants.


    “The exact relationship of I. Cengialti to I. pallida is not yet determined.  Its affinity to I. pallida is apparent in the wholly scarious spathes, which , however, are of a pale brown color and not silvery-white as in I. pallida, in the short tube, and possibly in the fact that the two plants hybridise freely and produce hybrids which are themselves fertile. The leaves, however , are distinctly green when contrasted to when contrasted with the glaucous foliage of I. pallida and the seeds are oval or pyriform and of a greyish color, not red-brown and compressed.
    The question of the specific value of the green or glaucous character of the leaves is somewhat intricate. On the one hand, I. pallida fertilized with pollen of the Loppio variety of I. Cengialti gives plants with distinctly green, as opposed to glaucous leaves,1 while the Lillyrian form of I. Cengialti differs from the type chiefly in its distinctly glaucous foliage. Its seeds also are larger and tend to become compressed, so that the var. illuyrica is almost intermediate between I. pallida and I. Cengialti. 
    The Loppio variety of I. Cengialti was collected by Foster on Monte Baldo near the Lago di Loppio and differs from the type in its foliage which in the early stages tends to be of a bluish green by contrast with the somewhat yellow-green of I. Cengialti. It also flowers later and has darker, and less blue-, purple flowers and the purple line at the base of the spathes is also more marked.
    Cultivation is easy in a sunny well-drained position in a soil that is not deficient in lime. Seedlings show considerable variation in color and it is for this reason that the claim of the Loppio form to a varietal name is at least doubtful.”

1 [ Similar plants are common in the neighbourhood of Riva in what appea to be wild conditions. I have been able to grow specimens side by side with the home-raised hybrids.] 

Here is a connection to a photo of plant labelled as Iris cengialti.

<http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/images/Rots/Iris%20cengialti%2071BL00217%20FRB72%20a.jpg>


Chuck Chapman

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