Hi Sean,
Everything you say is true, but you seem to be implying some malevolent conspiratorial bias in the AIS, which I do not think is fair. ;)
The basic fact at work here is that bearded irises (particularly TBs) are simply much more popular and widely grown, both by iris fanciers and by the general public. They are the most adaptable to conditions in all different parts of the US, and the only type to have really caught on with ordinary gardeners who go the garden center in spring and buy a few flowers to plant by the front door.
Popularity means more are produced and sold. And quantity is necessary if one is to have meaningful competition for awards. We can imagine a class and awards system for every series of beardless iris in the genus, but it makes no sense if cultivars in these series dribble into commerce at the rate of one or two a year (or less).
The AIS has, over the decades, extended the awards system to more types of irises, as the interest in these types has become sufficient to make competition meaningful. Although official recognition can spur interest in a class, it's not enough to transform a class from obscurity to popularity; it's just a nudge.
SPEC-X seems to me to be an important vehicle for getting around the "Catch-22" of no awards because of few introductions, and few introductions because of no awards. It's a way for a new type of breeding to get off the ground and attract interest.
Your comments about the Dykes Medal raises an issue I could carry on about at length. Our judging system is fundamentally flawed because, as a bare mathematical fact, it rewards an iris for being familiar to a large number of judges, not for impressing a high percentage of judges who are familiar with it. An iris that is seen by 1000 judges and impresses only 10% of them will always beat an iris that is seen by only 100, no matter how good it is. The Dykes Medal goes to TBs, not because judges are biased against other classes, but because nearly all judges grow and see TBs, and only a fraction grow and see the other types.
All the best,
Tom
--- In i*@yahoogroups.com, "Sean A. Zera" <zera@...> wrote:
>
> I, too, have never paid much attention to AIS because of the apparent
> focus on bearded hybrids, but after a bit of reading up, the whole
> system seems pretty strange. Correct me if I'm wrong, but:
>
> There are 15 classifications that receive medals, plus the Dykes
> medal. Of these, eight are restricted to beardeds and another two
> allow beardeds, so fully 2/3 of the categories can be won by beardeds.
> Three medals are awarded in the TB category, so of the 18 medals
> awarded annually, 3/4 can and do go to beardeds.
>
> The highest award, the Dykes, though open to all classes, is in
> practice awarded only to beardeds and almost exclusively to Tall
> Beardeds, which is downright insulting to everyone else, unless I'm
> missing something here.
>
> Certain arilbred hybrids could potentially be entered as TB, AB or
> SPEC-X, and stand a chance to win the Dykes, while hybrids in entire
> other subgenera can only be entered in SPEC-X and will never win Dykes.
>
> The SPEC-X classification is the only one open to anyone hybridizing
> Chinensis, Ensatae, Foetidissimae, Laevigatae (except JI),
> Longipetalae, Nepalensis, Prismaticae, Ruthenicae, Syriacae,
> Tenuifoliae, Tripetalae, Unguiculares, Vernae, cresteds, reticulatas,
> xiphiums, junos, Belamcanda, Pardanthopsis, wide crosses and whatever
> else I've missed. Yet 'Dolce', which for all intents and purposes
> appears to be a TB, wins. I understand the overwhelming focus of AIS
> on beardeds as an artifact of the history of iris hybridizing, but it
> would seem that the organization has little interest in changing this.
>
> My take on SPEC-X, as the classes stand now, would be to voluntarily
> restrict it to wide crosses (except between two bearded groups) and
> beardless hybrids that don't fit an existing classification. Wild-type
> bearded hybrids, as unlikely as they appear to be to win existing
> bearded classes, at least qualify for them. Entering beardeds into the
> only category many beardless can enter, being judged by an
> organization that prefers beardeds, unfairly reduces the already
> limited chances of a new and different hybrid winning.
>
> Sean Z
> Michigan
>
