Only true pseudoregelias descending
from desert areas, as is Iris tigridia, are extremely cold hardy. I doubt that
pseudoregelias from subtropical mountains are as hardy as desert ones. At
least my specimen being definetely pseudoregelia lost its young leaves during
spring frost here.
Intent inspection of
pseudoregelia's descriptions shows that those iris that Chen Yi sent as
narcissiflora isn't true. It is either Iris dolichosiphon variant or Iris
leptophylla with ribbed leaves 3 mm wide.
I have found a holotype of Iris
narcissiFOLIA Diels with reference "Svensk Bot. Tidskr. 18: 428-429
(1924)" that is usually given to Iris narcissiflora ! The citation
is below:
Document_number 268459
ACcess.nr V-146642
SPecies Iris narcissifolia
AUctor Diels
FAmily Iridaceae
CountrY CHINA
PRovince SICHUAN
LOcality Ta-pao-shan
COllector
S. Liljestrand
YEar 1922
DayMon VII
HerBarium
UPS
Herb-Namn Iris narcissifolia
REf. Svensk Bot. Tidskr.
18: 428-429 (1924)
NOtes Blommor gula. Kew negative No. 19923
(5.I.1981)
Type Material HOLOTYPUS
Whether somebody can check up in
Svensk Bot. Tidskr. what name was given by Diels to this iris: narcissiflora
or narcissifolia?
Juri
From:
r*@sbcglobal.net
As yet, I don't believe anyone who is knowledgeable has seen
a authentic I. Narcissiflora in living condition and in bloom. I hope you
may be the first. Unfortunately many attempts to secure plants and or seed
have turned out to be something else. From the little we know about the
original descriptions it would appear that it is most likely a
pseudoregelia. I would expect it to be extremely cold hardy and that it
would go into a summer dormancy as you experienced. From what i understand
there has been only one picture taken of a living plant in flower. This
photo came from a tourist who sent it to Brian Mathew for identification.
From the location it was determined to be narcissiflora but the lack of
detail in the picture did not allow for a great deal of definitive
characteristics. It has been speculayed to be anything from a series
chrysographes siberian to a psammiris or a pseudoregelia. My guess is the
latter.
Juri Pirogov <jukp@aha.ru> wrote:
Does anyone have an experience with Iris narcissiflora?
Planted in spring it has quickly sprouted but lost its leaves by
June. At the end of August new leaves has appeared, what don't give me an
optimism regarding winter.
Juri
in Moscow
zone
4-3
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