Shaub,
Thanks for that link. I think I went to that site some years ago but it is time to revisit.
Take a look at this from the eFloras website:
“Iris hexagona is one of the rarest of all our native irises. We had seen herbarium specimens from seven localities in five counties of South Carolina. In!
searching for living plants at each of these sites we found that six of the seven are now under the water of Lake Moultrie. After extensive searching, one small population has been located at the other site, in a state park at Charleston, which is being watched carefully by the rangers of the park. A good-sized population has since been found in Dixie County, Florida, north of the small town of Shamrock, and another in neighboring Taylor County. These two populations are in the drainage system of Georgia, which in turn is fed by some of the streams from South Carolina. So far, though, I. hexagona has not been found in Georgia.” - http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242101704
It would be a great project for SIGNA to obtain see!
ds or, if possible, plants of I. hexagona from South Carolina. Since the species is named based on a South Carolina specimen, it would be a shame if it were lost. I know I. hexagona is supposed to be in Florida also, and probably that is what a lot of the irises in North Florida are. But if I were given a plant from the southern part of the state, I would not be sure it was the same thing. I would really like to know how South Carolina hexagonas grow and exactly what they look like.
I have inquired with native plant organizations and nurseries with no results. Generally, the nurseries I have contacted either do not know the origin of the I. hexagona they offer or their plants are from Florida.
Patrick
From: iris-species@yahoogroups.com [mailto:iris-species@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Shaub Dunkley
Sent: Friday, March 22, 2013 4:27 PM
To: iris-species@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [iris-species] Re: Iris hexagona
Don't know if this will help you on your Iris hexagona questions but
here is a link to the University of !
South Carolina Herbarium website. It
includes a county distribution!
atlas for the flora of SE states. If a
plant is found in the atlas then it is almost a certainty specimens will
be kept in one more herbariums. I would imagine there is taxonomic
treatment information on the site to found as well.
http://herbarium.biol.sc.edu/scplantatlas.html
Any herbarium specimen will document it's collection date and site.
Whether plants are still there is another question. I would imagine the
herbarium staff can offer some guidance or perhaps direct you to
academics who are interested in regional iris species. Getting directed
to such an interested person would be ideal. Taking the tact of
inquiring on behalf of SIGNA may give you a little more clout but y'all
might coordinate this and decide which one person is the designee. I'm
sure they have policies about who can examine specimens or get
information about collection sites. Can't b!
e assisting rare plant
poachers. So the academic contact might be a willing go between.
The University of North at Chapel Hill (my alma mater) has an excellent
herbarium as well that includes flora from NC and surrounding states.
Actually the SC Herbarium said it's distribution maps are based on The
Flora of the Carolinas published by UNC-CH. I had classes under two of
the authors. The herbarium site provides a download of a newer flora
manual: Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States by Alan S.
Weakley, which is noted to be updated to 2012.
http://www.herbarium.unc.edu/data.htm
Hope this help.
Oh - did whoever wrote Plants Delight ever get a response? If not I'll
write them since I know the owner, Tony Avent, personally. You want the
the provenance on their Iris hexagona right?
Shaub Dunkley
