Thanks everybody!
The City sent a crew out yesterday that dug up the yellow iris. I
went down and passed on the identification tips I got from this
list. With a means to distinguish them they were able to save much
of the blue iris and remove yellow iris that wasn't blooming. Our
only other option was to strip everything - so it was great that they
were able to remove the yellow iris without completely decimating the
area. They took out a truck filled with the stuff. Some of these
plants - which were put in as just 4" peat pots last spring - already
had rhizomes a foot and a half long! They do understand that they
will have to monitor the area for stray yellow iris that comes up -
and get it as soon as we find it.
Thanks to all for helping out. It is much appreciated.
-Helen
--- In iris-species@yahoogroups.com, <vwak@...> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Helen,
>
>
>
> If the flowers are yellow definitely yank the plants out. In my
experience pseudacorus usually has a more prominent midrib than
versicolor; however, now much more prominent does it have to be to
make an ID? If one feels the leaves between their thumb and fingers,
the midrib on pseudacorus, virginica, and versicolor usually become
evident without actually looking at the leaf. I should add that many
wild virginica populations that I am familiar with in the southeast
are flushed with purple at the base. All of these iris species are
variable in nature and undoubtedly there are many ecotypes that have
evolved responding to different environmental pressures. I suspect
that pseudocorus will grow as well or maybe even better in the Mid-
Atlantic than in the warmer areas along the Gulf coast. It has been
my experience that in areas where it gets little winter chilling it
blooms sparsely even though it grows robustly. Also, be aware that
pseudacorus will readily reseeded itself in some areas. Even if the
plants are not versicolor and the flowers are not yellow, it probably
is an iris worth growing.
>
>
>
> I wish you much success in replanting the watershed.
>
>
>
> Vic
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: hldlily<mailto:hdeclercq@...>
> To: iris-species@yahoogroups.com<mailto:iris-
species@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 1:06 AM
> Subject: Fw: [iris-species] Re: Distinguishing Pseudacorus from
Versicolor?
>
>
> Hi Vic,
> Both are in bloom now, one yellow and the other blue. The
original
> plans had only Iris versicolor and pseudocorus on them along with
> other native plants such as pickerelweed. They were then supposed
to
> substitute Cardinal Flower and additional iris versicolor for the
> pseudocorus. Obviously that didnt' happen with 100% accuracy so I
> can't be really sure of anything!
>
> One poster mentioned that their versicolor has a few prominent
veins
> and that they were less sharpley pronounced than in pseudocorus.
On
> the web I've found mention of its foliage being ribbed yet on
other
> sites from close-up photos no veins were obvious.
>
> Is Versicolor a variable species in the wild? Also how much
> difference is there between cultivars?
>
> Whatever blue iris we have down there it is tall (some of it
leaves
> reach 5'), with flower stalks significantly lower than the
leaves,
> with smooth foliage that is somewhat narrower (3/4" vs 1") and
> slightly darker bluer green than the pseudacorus leaves. It may
be a
> mystery but the smooth foliage has the advantage of making it
easily
> distinguishable from the pseudocorus. (When I say smooth I mean
no
> prominent veins. All veins are the same size and quite small,
> visible only on close inspection, with about 15 of them running
> closely spaced next to each other up the strap.)
>
> The Mid-Atlantic has fairly mild growing conditions so I imagine
the
> pseudocorus would grow pretty well here - though probably not as
well
> as in Florida!
>
> -Helen
>
> --- In iris-species@yahoogroups.com<mailto:iris-species%
40yahoogroups.com>, <vwak@> wrote:
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Vwak@<mailto:Vwak@>
> > To: iris-species@yahoogroups.com<mailto:iris-species%
40yahoogroups.com><mailto:iris-
> species@yahoogroups.com<mailto:species%40yahoogroups.com>>
> > Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 8:49 PM
> > Subject: Re: [iris-species] Re: Distinguishing Pseudacorus from
> Versicolor?
> >
> >
> > Helen,
> >
> >
> >
> > I have been reading the postings of how to distinguish I.
> pseudacorus, I. virginica, and I. versicolor with much interest.
> >
> >
> >
> > First, I agree that pseudacorus should be removed from the
> habitat. In my part of the world (SE US) it can take over and
crowd
> out desirable native wetland plants, including native irises.
> >
> >
> >
> > If one is familiar with the above mentioned irises one can tell
> most pseudacorus by looks and size. It usually is taller than the
> other species.
> >
> >
> >
> > I am very dubious about distinguishing virginica by the cauline
> leaves frequently overtopping the flowers. I grow some virginica
> clones originally collected from the wild where the norm is for
the
> flowers to be above the leaves. I have seen wild populations
where
> that is the norm.
> >
> >
> >
> > Even though versicolor is not native to the lower south, I grow
> some clones originally from further north. Helen's statement that
> the versicolor leaves in the area under question are perfectly
> smooth, i.e., they have no center ridge surprised me. In far as I
> can recall, I have always seen a center ridge on all pseudacorus,
> virginica, and versicolor clones that I have looked at. I
> immediately went out in my garden and the versicolor in my garden
all
> had center ridges.
> >
> >
> >
> > Is it possible that some other species of iris has been planted?
> >
> >
> >
> > Vic
> >
> >
> >
> > Victor W. Lambou
> >
> > Crawfordville Florida
> >
> > Zone 8B
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: hldlily<mailto:hdeclercq@>
> > To: iris-species@yahoogroups.com<mailto:iris-species%
40yahoogroups.com><mailto:iris-
> species@yahoogroups.com<mailto:species%40yahoogroups.com>>
> > Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 3:51 PM
> > Subject: [iris-species] Re: Distinguishing Pseudacorus from
> Versicolor?
> >
> >
> > Hi Kenneth and James,
> >
> > I went down to the stream and since versicolor is also in bloom
I
> was
> > able to identify the plants and compare their foliage. Sure
> enough,
> > the pseudacorus has a nice sharp ridge down the center that is
> easily
> > seen and felt while the versicolor we have is totally smooth.
> Even a
> > lay person like myself couldn't mistake them - now that, thanks
> to
> > the species-iris group, I know what to look for.
> >
> > The watershed director is very happy that we won't have to pull
> > everything up. Besides the painful thought of losing hundreds
of
> blue
> > iris we would have had a freshly denuded landscape, a landscape
> just
> > recovering from all the construction work last year.
> >
> > Thanks so much for your help!
> >
> > -Helen
> >
> > --- In iris-species@yahoogroups.com<mailto:iris-species%
40yahoogroups.com><mailto:iris-species%
> 40yahoogroups.com>, Kenneth Walker <kenww@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Helen,
> > >
> > > Looking at several varieties of each species in my garden,
> > pseudacorus
> > > does have a prominent ridge in the center of the leaf
composed
> of a
> > > single vein. Versicolor has a less prominent ridge composed
of
> 3
> > veins.
> > > I'd suggest someone compare leaves from a sample of plants in
> the
> > > wetland to see if they can be divided into two categories.
Each
> > > volunteer could be armed with a sample leaf from each species
> when
> > > identifying the pseudacorus for eradication.
> > >
> > > Ken Walker
> > >
> > > James Harrison PhD wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Pseudacorus has a sharp vein in the middle of each leaf.
Some
> > other
> > > > iris have a less prominent vein, like JI, but I think this
is
> > the
> > > > easy way to pick out Pseudacorus.
> > > >
> > >
> >
>
