Deciduous irises

with reference to Jeff's comments "I am able to trace LIVE JAZZ back 10
times to I. pumila"

I. pumila is listed in the BIS Guide as "semi-deciduous" whatever that
means (does it mean sometimes deciduous,or some of the leaves die back
and not others, or all the leaves die back a bit?) I left pumila off my
list the other day as they were under the snow, however, today there is
a row of 16 pumila/aphylla crosses which are completely deciduous.  As
these plants flower at about 3 inches, they are predominantly pumila.

He also mentioned "Carpathia" "From seed collected in Transylvania." 

As the seeds were collected in the wild, did anyone determine the
species?  Carpathia is not mentioned in Dykes, Mathew or the BIS Guide
nor can I find it in the other standard references, suggesting that it
is not considered by the authors as either a species or a synonym. 
Ellen said that Carpathia "was introduced by Schreiners. It is also
described as 4" (10 cm)". Even if it was introduced, surely someone at
the time must have had a stab at identifying the species. 

On another point raised by Ellen who said "According to the DIS
checklist, Atroviolacea was collected and is considered to be a natural
hybrid between I.lutescens and I.pumila. There is a notation:"AIS
approved name: pumila atroviolacea, though obviously not I.pumila"".

The BIS Guide assigns atroviolacea to be a synonym of australis which is
a variety of I. germanica, not of pumila. The germanica have chromosome
counts of 40 and are very tall (60-100cm) whereas the pumila count is 32
and they are very short (10-15cm). Dykes thought that it was related to
kochii, which is between the two in height (30-40cm) but Service (in BIS
Guide) say that is incorrect because of the patterning on the flowers.
Is anyone aware as to why AIS would put atroviolacea with pumila? 

Ian, in Ottawa where is remains warm, the snow has finally gone, and
clearing up in order to eliminate all borer eggs is my main
pre-occupation.
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