Re: Re: SPEC-X

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Sean; You pose a good question. It has two parts. First part is why it is not judged against the Tbs. The question is not really that it is being judged against other TBs because as a SPEC-X it is when it wins the Medal and competes for the Dykes. The real question is whether it is judged as a TB. Then one has to look at what is the paradigm of a TB. Many of the Median people will tell you that a plant of a certain geight should have a certain size flower to be in proportion.and a certian branching structure. They will adamantly condemn a MDB that has what they consider too big a flower and have an expectation That flower size should increase on SDBs and more on IBs and BBs  but a BB should be a smaller flower size than a TB, because it is shorter. This model is violated by the MTBs which have smaller flower sizes than the IBs and BBs but have the same range in height. But the added branching of the MTBs restores the balance of flower to Plant. Dolce is a small flowered tall. It has more branching and although it may not be all the way developed to perfection for this new class it is somewhat in balance. But this picture is different than what people accept as TBs. A great many judges find it easy to judge because they have a view in their mind of what the ideal TB or SDB, or Siberian should be. They have a revipe to follow. But this type of judging does not allow for innovation away from that model. This is what the SPEC-X class promotes. It is easy to develop a point scale for a class that has a well defined model but point scales for Species and Species crosses are very vague because they must cover all types of Iris.

The second part of your question also needs rephrasing. Although a Chrythenica and Dolce could appear on the ballot for SPEC-X as competitors you do not judge them really against each other but by their relative value as a garden plant. I expect the Judges Handbook to have a large rewrite in the future. I would very much like to see a section devoted to how does one judge a garden plant and not have a point scale as a crutch. The fact that Chrythenica and Dolce appear in the SPEC-X class actually has more to say about their innovations and is a challenge to judges to think about new directions. Since there are so few plants in this class most wind up with the Randolph-Perry Medal so it is not as if bearded species are crowding out the beardless. The lack of generosity to include both astounds me because it so weakons the interests of the beardless enthusiasts also. 

Through the years many iris people have learned to appreciate the diversity of the genus by the exposure that AIS gives all the groups. Most people start out as TB enthusiasts but often become species enthusiasts also. I am one of the exceptions that started looking for Species and grew to accept the TBs. I find it quite rediculous Tha I should have to defend the TBs against species descrimination. I assume it is a backlash from the percieved opposite descrimination. But either way it is not a pretty picture.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sean A. Zera" <zera@umich.edu>
To: iris-species@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, November 26, 2010 1:18:08 PM
Subject: Re: [iris-species] Re: SPEC-X